CT/TTTT 
iliZ 


UC-NRLF 


00 

o 

CO 


•'.  •  H  MAN 

1KB 


GOOD    CITIZENSHIP 


BY 

JULIA  RICHMAN 

i" 

DISTRICT    SUPERINTENDENT    OF    PUBLIC    SCHOOLS    IN    THE 
CITY    OF    NEW    YORK 

AND 

ISABEL  RICHMAN  WALLACH 

f 

AUTHOR  OF  "  HISTORICAL  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  NARRATIVES  " 
AND  "  A  FIRST  BOOK  IN  ENGLISH  FOR  FOREIGNERS  " 


NEW  YORK  •:•  CINCINNATI    •••  CHICAGO 

AMERICAN    BOOK    COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,   1908,  BY 
JULIA  RICHMAN  AND  ISABEL  RICHMAN  WALLACH 


ENTERED  AT  STATIONERS'  HALL,  LONDON 


R.  &  W.  GOOD  CIT. 
w.  p.    4 


TO 

THE  BOYS  AND  GIRLS  OF  AMERICA 
THIS  BOOK  IS  AFFECTIONATELY  DEDICATED 

WITH  THE  HOPE  AND  PRAYER 
THAT  IT  MAY  HELP  TO  MAKE  THEM    TRUE  CITIZENS 


3 

270340 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE. 

I.  THE  FIRE  DEPARTMENT         .    •    .        .        .        .        7 
II.  IN  THE  FIRE-ENGINE  HOUSE         .        .        ...      14 

III.  THE  TENEMENT-HOUSE  FIRE        .        .        .        .21 

IV.  THE  LESSONS  FIRES  TEACH 30 

V.  How  CITIZENS  CAN  HELP  THE  FIRE  DEPARTMENT    .      39 

VI.  OBEYING  THE  FIREMEN'S  ORDERS          ...       49 

VII.  THE  POLICE  DEPARTMENT 55 

VIII.  How  THE  POLICE  KEEP  ORDER  IN  THE  CITY         .      63 

IX. .  How  THE  POLICE  DEPARTMENT  FIGHTS  CRIME       .      70 

X.  AN  AFTERNOON  WITH  THE  POLICE         .        .        -77 

XI.  SOME  TRUE  HERO  STORIES 88 

XII.  How  CITIZENS  CAN  HELP  THE  POLICE   .        .        .97 

XIII.  THE  STREET  CLEANING  DEPARTMENT    .      . .        .103 

XIV.  DEPARTMENT  RULES  AND  REASONS  FOR  THEM       .     no 
XV.  WITH  THE  STREET  CLEANERS        .        .        .        .     115 

XVL^How  CITIZENS  CAN  HELP  THE  STREET  CLEANING 

DEPARTMENT       . 125 

XVII.  How  YOUNG   CITIZENS  CAN  HELP  THE   STREET 

CLEANING  DEPARTMENT 131 

XVIII.  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH      ....     139 

XIX.  THE  HEALTH  DEPARTMENT  AND  THE  SCHOOLS      .     148 

XX.  FIGHTING  CONTAGIOUS  DISEASES  .        .        .158 

XXI.  FIGHTING  CONTAGIOUS  DISEASES  (CONCLUDED)     .     164 

XXII.  FIGHTING  PREVENTABLE.  DISEASES       .        .        -173 

XXIII.  How   CITIZENS   CAN   HELP   GUARD   THE   PUBLIC 

HEALTH .     181 

XXIV.  OTHER  HEROES igi 

4 


PREFACE 

For  many  years  instruction  in  Civics  has  formed  a 
part  of  the  curriculum  of  the  highest  grades  in  grammar 
schools  and  in  the  lowest  grades  in  high  schools.  This 
instruction,  aiming  to  impress  upon  the  pupils  the  mean- 
ing and  importance  of  the  Constitution  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  and  the  functions  of  state  and  municipal 
government,  fails  to  benefit  the  child  withdrawn  from 
school  before  he  enters  the  upper  grades,  and  utterly 
fails  to  show  to  children  their  personal  obligations  as 
little  citizens. 

Investigation  has  shown  that  the  greatest  number  of 
violations  of  law  in  large  cities  are  due  not  so  much  to 
disrespect  for  the  authority  of  the  Law  as  to  ignorance 
of  the  Law,  especially  of  that  part  of  the  Law  covered 
by  local  ordinances.  It  is  far  more  important  for  the 
welfare  of  the  state  that  a  child  should  be  made  to 
realize  his  present  obligations  to  the  commonwealth 
than  that  he  should  know  the  qualifications  of  a  Uni- 
ted States  senator.  The  belief  that  a  knowledge  of 
things  close  at  hand  should  be  acquired  first,  and  that 
such  knowledge  should  be  made  to  include  the  personal 
relations  of  the  child  to  the  Law,  is  rapidly  becoming 
an  educational  principle.  Within  recent  years  New 
York,  Chicago,  and  other  large  cities  have  introduced 

5 


6  PREFACE 

into  their  respective  curricula  instruction  in  Civics  for 
the  lower  grades,  Chicago  beginning  its  work  in  this 
direction  in  the  first  year. 

This  book  is  planned  to  meet  the  needs  of  fourth 
year  children,  but  in  the  hands  of  an  intelligent  teacher 
it  can  be  used  both  in  higher  and  in  lower  grades. 
Although  designed  as  a  supplementary  reader  to  fit 
a  graded  course  in  Civics,  it  will  be  found  to  contain 
much  of  dramatic  interest,  many  ethical  lessons,  and 
a  clear  statement  of  the  child's  opportunities  for  ren- 
dering civic  service.  These  features  will  make  its  use 
valuable  in  schools  where  teachers  are  endeavoring  to 
meet  the  demands  of  social  advance,  even  though  no 
specific  instruction  in  Civics  is  required.  It  is  suited 
for  use  also  in  evening  schools,  especially  in  those  fre- 
quented by  immjgrants.  Leaders  of  juvenile  clubs  will 
find  its  pages  rich  in  suggestion. 

It  is  hoped,  therefore,  that  the  book  will  be  of  real 
help  to  all  teachers  who  aim  to  bring  children  to  a 
realization  of  their  best  selves,  and  to  all  children  who 
are  capable  of  appreciating  the  worth  of  good  citizen- 
ship. 

The  authors  are  indebted  to  Fire  Commissioner 
O'Brien,  Police  Commissioner  Bingham,  Street  Clean- 
ing Commissioner  Bensel,  and  Health  Commissioner 
Darlington  of  New  York  for  much  valuable  information. 


GOOD   CITIZENSHIP 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  FIRE  DEPARTMENT 

Fire  is  a  good  servant,  but  a  bad  master.  So  long  as 
the  servant  remains  under  our  control,  it  does  many 
kinds  of  work  for  us,  and  does  them  well.  When  we 
allow  it  to  get  beyond  control  it  may  do  untold  damage. 
Fire  is  a  restless  thing,  always  trying  to  escape.  If 
through  our  carelessness,  or  through  accident,  fire 
breaks  the  bounds  we  set  for  it,  it  leaps  up  and  out  like 
a  wild  thing.  It  feeds  as  it  flies,  on  everything  inflam- 
mable within  reach,  and  grows  greater  and  stronger 
every  moment. 

A  child  can  manage  the  servant  fire.  When  fire 
plays  the  master  it  may  need  many  men  and  many 
hours  of  the  hardest  kind  of  fighting  to  conquer  it. 
Where  people  live  close  together,  as  they  do  in  cities, 
fire  so  often  attempts  to  make  itself  their  master,  that 
it  is  necessary  to  employ  a  special  force  of  men  to  de- 
feat it.  These  men  are  members  of  the  Fire  Depart- 
ment, and  many  are  the  brave  deeds  they  do  when 
danger  threatens. 


THE  FIRE   DEPARTMENT 

The  Americans  are  the  best  fire  fighters  in  the  world, 
and  we  who  live  in  this  country  are  very  proud  of  our 
Fire  Departments.  Their  work  is  so  wonderful  that  men 
are  sent  here  from  other  countries  to  study  American 
methods  of  fighting  fire.  Then  they  return  home  and 
improve  their  own  methods.  They  may  make  many 
changes,  but  they  never  can  make  their  Fire  Depart- 
ments so  good  as  our  own.  Shall  I  tell  you  why?  It 
is  because  nowhere  else  are  the  firemen  so  daring,  and 
nowhere  else  is  the  fire-fighting  apparatus  so  fine. 

The  word  " apparatus"  is  long  and  not  easy  to  spell. 
Still  I  am  sure  all  of  you  can  manage  it,  if  you  try. 
You  will  meet  it  now  and  again  in  these  pages,  and  it 
is  a  word  that  is  worth  knowing.  Apparatus,  the  dic- 
tionary tells  us,  means  whatever  is  a  "  means  to  an 
end."  The  "  end,"  or  object,  of  the  Fire  Department 
is  to  save  life  and  property  from  being  destroyed  by  fire. 
Then  whatever  its  men  use  for  this  purpose  is  their 
apparatus.  Can  you  name  some  of  the  things  which 
are  a  part  of  the  apparatus  our  firemen  use  ? 

There  are  three  ways  to  save  life  and  property  from 
fire.  The  simplest  and  best  way  of  all  is  to  prevent  fire 
from  making  itself  master.  The  second  way  is  to  con- 
quer the  fire  quickly  wherever  it  breaks  forth.  The 
third  way  is  to  get  the  people,  and  also  their  property, 
if  possible,  out  of  the  reach  of  the  smoke  and  flames. 
A  Fire  Department  uses  all  three  ways. 


THE  FIRE   DEPARTMENT  9 

Perhaps  you  may  ask  how  the  firemen  can  ever  make 
use  of  the  first  way,  when  they  are  called  only  after  the 
fire  has  broken  forth.  The  answer  is  very  plain.  The 
Fire  Department  knows  that  certain  things  like  matches, 
oily  rags,  and  kerosene,  can  cause  a  very  serious  fire. 
It  therefore  does  what  it  can  to  prevent  such  fires,  by 
warning  people  always  to  be  careful  when  using  these 
things.  If  people  always  obeyed  this  warning,  Fire 
Departments  would  have  much  less  to  do. 

Whenever  the  Fire  Department  is  called  to  put  out 
a  fire,  it  sends  men  enough  to  use  all  the  ways  men- 
tioned, at  the  same  time.  While  some  of  the  men 
rush  into  the  burning  building  to  save  lives,  others 
fight  the  fire  with  water  to  prevent  its  spread  and  to 
put  it  out,  and  the  rest  do  what  they  can  to  save  the 
property.  Each  group  of  men  has  special  apparatus 
for  the  work  it  must  do.  Let  us  see  what  the  apparatus 
is  and  how  it  is  used. 

The  men  trying  to  save  life  use  ladders  to  reach 
people  shut  in  by  the  flames,  and  to  help  them  down. 
There  are  ropes  to  lower  them  to  the  street,  if  necessary, 
and  life-nets  in  which  to  catch  those  who  may  leap  or 
fall  from  the  windows. 

The  men  ordered  to  put  out  the  fire,  fasten  long  lines 
of  hose  to  the  nearest  hydrants.  The  great  fire  engines 
pump  water  from  the  hydrants  into  the  hose.  The 
men  holding  the  nozzles  of  the  hose  throw  the  heavy 


10 


THE  FIRE  DEPARTMENT 


streams  of  water  upon  the  flames,  always  seeking  the 
heart  of  the  fire  in  order  to  drown  it.  When  necessary, 

other  men  throw  water  on 
the  near-by  houses,  to  keep 
them  from  catching  fire. 

In    the    burning   building, 
axes  and  rams  are  used  to 
break  down  doors  and  iron 
shutters    which   are    locked. 
A  search  light  is  sometimes 
needed    to   help    the 
men  see  through  the 
clouds  of    steam  and 
thick     black      smoke 
which  swirl  around 
the  fire.     Its  long 
line  of  white  light 
can  be  turned  into 
dark  places  like  a 
giant  sunbeam. 

An     interesting 
part    of   the    fire 

apparatus  is  the  water  tower.  It  is  used  when  tall 
buildings  are  burning.  It  is  carried  on  a  long  wagon, 
and  can  be  raised  to  a  great  height.  At  its  top  is 
a  nozzle  from  which  a  great  stream  of  water  can  be 
thrown  into  the  upper  stories. 


Water  Tower 


THE  FIRE  DEPARTMENT  II 

A  little  thing  to  look  at,  but  a  most  important  part 
of  the  fire-fighting  apparatus  in  cities,  is  the  fire-alarm 
box  attached  to  the  lamp-post.  It  is  painted  red,  for 
red  is  the  special  color  of  fire  apparatus  everywhere. 
The  glass  in  the  lamp  above  it  is  red  also,  that  people 
rushing  out  at  night  to  send  a  fire  alarm,  may  recognize 
it  at  once.  When  a  fire  breaks  out  some  one  should 
run  at  once  to  the  nearest  fire-alarm  box  to  ring  the 
alarm.  This  notifies  the  entire  Fire  Department  of 
the  fire,  and  the  nearest  companies  of  firemen  rush  to 
the  spot.  The  strong  horses  tear  along  the  street  draw- 
ing the  great  fire  engines,  for  these  intelligent  beasts 
are  as  eager  as  the  men  themselves  to  do  their  share  of 
the  work.  Each  horse  knows  what  he  is  about.  If 
you  think  I  am  mistaken,  ask  the  first  fireman  you  see. 
Ask  politely,  and  if  he  is  not  too  busy  he  may  tell  you 
some  interesting  stories  about  the  fire  horses. 

Large  cities  have  much  valuable  property  besides 
houses  and  buildings  which  must  be  guarded  from  fire. 
New  York,  for  example,  has  many  miles  of  water  front. 
Thousands  of  ships  come  and  go  day  by  day.  They 
load  and  unload  their  cargoes  on  wharves  and  big  piers 
which  almost  touch  one  another,  so  close  do  they  lie. 
I  wish  you  could  see  the  enormous  heaps  of  boxes  and 
bales,  of  barrels  and  packing  cases  under  the  great  pier 
sheds.  A  vast  amount  of  such  freight  is  always  waiting 
to  be  shipped  in  the  big  vessels  alongside,  or  to  be 


12 


THE  FIRE  DEPARTMENT 


carted  away  by  the  long  procession  of  trucks  coming 
from  the  street.  One  glance  would  show  you  how 
terrible  a  fire  would  be  among  so  much  valuable  and 
highly  inflammable  stuff. 

At  such  a  fire  the  biggest  and  finest  fire  engines  would 
be  scarcely  more  helpful  than  a  string  of  water  buckets. 
Knowing  this,  the  Fire  Department  has  other  and 


Fire  Boat 

stronger  means  at  hand.  These  are  fire  boats,  or  float- 
ing fire  engines.  They  dash  through  the  water  to  a 
fire,  driven  by  their  powerful  engines.  There  are  ten 
of  these  boats  in  New  York  harbor.  One  of  them 
is  the  finest  and  most  powerful  of  its  kind  in  the 
world.  The  fire  boats  pump  enormous  streams  directly 
from  the  waters  on  which  thev  float:  when  these  fall 


THE    FIRE  DEPARTMENT  13 

upon  a  blazing  wharf  or  ship,  the  hottest  flames  are 
quickly  quenched. 

The  officer  whose  duty  it  is  to  take  charge  of  a  fire 
and  to  direct  the  work  of  the  firemen,  is  the  Chief. 
Perhaps  you  have  seen  him  hurrying  to  a  fire.  He 
drives  a  horse  and  light  wagon,  or  rushes  along  in  an 
automobile,  and  clangs  his  bell  for  right  of  way.  When 
the  fire  is  on  the  water  front,  he  sometimes  makes  his 
way  there  on  the  Department  steam  launch. 

All  these  things  that  have  been  mentioned  form  a 
part  of  the  fire-fighting  apparatus.  A  visit  to  a  fire- 
company  house,  or  to  an  actual  fire,  would  show  you 
other  useful  things,  quite  as  important  and  quite  as  per- 
fect of  their  kind. 


CHAPTER  II 

IN  THE  FIRE-ENGINE  HOUSE 

It  would  be  interesting  to  visit  the  place  where  the 
men  live  who  belong  to  a  fire  company.  The  fire  engine 
and  the  rest  of  the  apparatus  the  firemen  use  are  kept 
there.  It  is  hard  to  get  permission  to  enter,  because  the 
Fire  Department  does  not  care  to  have  many  visitors. 
Do  not  imagine  that  it  wishes  to  hide  anything,  or  that 
its  quarters  are  not  always  in  perfect  order.  The  only 
reason  why  the  Department  objects  to  many  visit- 
ors is  the  fact  that  a  fire  alarm  may  be  sounded  at  any 
moment,  and  when  this  happens,  strangers  are  very 
much  in  the  way.  They  might  also  be  hurt,  for  when 
the  call  comes  for  a  fire,  men  and  horses  think  of  noth- 
ing but  getting  to  it  in  the  shortest  possible  time. 

I  feel  sure  that  every  one  of  you  would  like  to  visit 
a  fire  company's  house,  if  only  to  see  what  happens 
there  when  a  fire  alarm  comes  in.  I  know  I  should,  so 
suppose  we  all  go  there  together! 

How  are  we  to  do  that  ? 

Why,  just  by  making  believe  we  each  own  a  wishing 
cap,  one  of  the  kind  the  old  fairy  tales  tell  about.  Who- 
ever owned  one  of  these,  you  remember,  could  reach 

14 


IN    THE    FIRE-ENGINE    SOUSE  1 5 

any  place  he  wished  to  visit  the  very  moment  that  he 
clapped  the  magic  cap  on  his  head!  All  we  need,  then, 
is  to  pretend  that  we  own  such  caps,  and  while  we  put 
them  on,  wish  ourselves  inside  a  fire-engine  house  in 
New  York  city,  where  they  have  the  greatest  Fire  De- 
partment in  the  whole  world.  Presto!  here  we  are! 

Not  a  fireman  in  the  whole  company  will  suspect  our 
presence  if  we  keep  quiet,  because  these  wonderful  caps 
of  ours  make  us  quite  invisible  even  to  the  sharpest 
eyes.  We  must  not  talk,  lest  they  hear  us;  and  we  must 
be  careful  not  to  touch  anything,  for  if  we  should  do  so, 
something  serious  might  happen.  It  seems  safe  just 
now,  with  everything  in  its  right  place;  but  let  a  fire 
alarm  come  in,  and  it  would  be  different.  Things 
which  look  as  if  they  could  not  stir  of  themselves,  will 
suddenly  come  to  life  and  move  about  in  a  very  lively 
fashion.  If  we  wait  patiently  perhaps  an  alarm  may 
be  sounded.  When  you  hear  it,  and  you  see  all  sorts 
of  things  jump  from  one  place  to  another,  you  will 
understand  why  visitors  are  not  welcome  in  a  fire-en- 
gine house. 

Let  us  pretend  it  is  midnight  as  we  enter  the  engine 
house.  Right  in  front  of  us  stands  the  great  engine 
itself.  How  big  and  strong  it  looks,  and  how  it  glitters! 
Not  a  speck  of  dust  or  mud  can  be  seen.  Can  you  guess 
why  not  ?  It  is  because  of  the  Department  rule  which 
tells  the  firemen  to  clean  every  part  of  the  fire  apparatus 


1 6  THE  FIRE  DEPARTMENT 

the  moment  they  return  from  a  fire,  so  that  all  shall  be 
in  readiness  for  the  next  call.  No  matter  how  tired  the 
men  may  be  after  fighting  a  big  fire,  they  never  disobey 
this  important  rule;  first,  because  it  is  a  rule,  and  sec- 
ondly, because  they  are  very  proud  of  their  engine  and 
love  to  keep  it  bright  and  shining.  They  know,  too, 
how  important  it  is  to  have  everything  in  perfect  order 
when  they  go  to  a  fire.  They  dare  not  delay  starting, 
in  order  to  set  things  straight,  and  after  they  reach  the 
fire  they  have  other  work  to  do. 

The  engine  we  are  looking  at  is  drawn  by  three 
powerful  horses.  Fastened  to  the  ceiling  just  over  the 
poles  of  the  engine,  hangs  the  harness  for  each  one  of 
the  horses.  The  metal  work  of  the  harness,  like  the 
engine  itself,  is  as  bright  as  brisk  rubbing  can  make 
it.  Close  at  hand  are  the  neat  stalls  where  the  horses 
stand,  each  held  by  a  halter.  Behind  the  engine  is  its 
tender,  or  hose  wagon.  The  harness  for  the  tender- 
horses  also  hangs  from  the  ceiling,  directly  in  front  of 
the  tender. 

On  each  side  of  the  room  is  a  row  of  slender  poles. 
They  rise  from  the  middle  of  big  rubber  pads  on  the 
floor,  and  pass  upward  through  large  round  holes  in 
the  ceiling.  I  am  afraid  you  can  never  guess  what 
these  poles  are  used  for,  so  I  shall  tell  you. 

The  men  sleep  in  the  large  room  just  above  the  one 
we  are  in.  Over  yonder  are  the  stairs  which  lead  up 


IN    THE    FIRE-ENGINE    HOUSE 


to  it.  They  are  good  stairs,  and  men  could  certainly 
race  down  them  swiftly.  Not  swiftly  enough,  however, 
the  Fire  Department  decided  long  ago.  It  looked  for  a 
quicker  way  for  the  men  to 
get  down,  than  by  ordinary 
stairs.  It  thought  of  the  poles 
and  put  them  up.  Should  a 
fire  call  come  while  the  fire- 
men are  abed,  they  slip  into 
their  boots  and  trousers  at 
the  same  moment,  make  a  fly- 
ing leap  for  the  nearest  hole 
in  the  floor,  and  slide  down 
the  pole.  It  saves  them  only 
a  second  of  time,  perhaps; 
but  one  second  saved  here 
and  another  somewhere  else 
in  getting  to  a  fire,  may  mean 
life  instead  of  death  to  human  beings  hemmed  in  by 
smoke  and  flame. 

In  the  engine  house  we  are  visiting,  all  the  men  are 
upstairs  fast  asleep,  except  the  two  who  must  remain 
on  watch.  One  of  these  two  is  reading  a  newspaper. 
The  other  sits  at  a  desk  near  the  door.  On  the  wall 
close  by  are  clocks,  gongs,  and  electrical  instruments. 
All  is  very  still.  Not  a  sound  breaks  the  silence,  save 
the  steady  click,  click,  click,  clicketty-click,  from  a 

Citizenship — 2 


and  slide  down  the  pole  " 


l8  THE  FIRE  DEPARTMENT 

telegraph  instrument  on  the  wall.  It  chirps  and  chirps 
as  steadily  as  a  cricket  in  summer  time,  stops  for  a 
second,  and  then  begins  once  more. 

Suddenly  the  sounds  change.  There  is  a  single  click, 
different  in  tone  from  the  others.  It  is  followed  by  three 
quick,  sharp  strokes  on  the  gong.  A  brief  pause,  then 
four  strokes,  and  right  afterward  two  more.  Even  be- 
fore the  last  stroke  ceases  to  sound,  a  dozen  things  are 
happening  in  the  engine  house,  all  at  once,  everywhere, 
and  so  fast  that  we  hold  our  breath  and  wonder  what 
will  come  next. 

Jump  back,  all  of  you!  Flatten  yourselves  against 
the  walls!  The  three,  four,  and  two  strokes  on  the 
gong  spell  out  342,  this  company's  call,  and  the  very 
alarm  you  and  I  have  been  waiting  to  hear! 

"Turn  out!  turn  out!"  roars  a  great  voice.  It  is  the 
man  at  the  desk  calling  to  the  other  men  of  the  company. 
It  is  his  duty  to  call,  but  you  see  the  firemen  do  not  wait 
for  him.  With  the  last  stroke  of  the  gong,  every  man 
is  on  the  way  to  his  post.  As  they  jump  here  and  there 
all  seems  hopeless  confusion,  but  it  is  really  quite  the 
opposite.  Every  one,  down  to  the  newest  horse,  knows 
just  what  to  do  and  does  it  on  the  instant,  not  one  ever 
getting  in  another's  way.  Men,  horses,  and  machinery 
work  together,  much  like  the  wheels  in  a  clock,  their 
one  object  being  to  reach  the  fire  in  record  time. 

Everything  moves  so  quickly  now,  it  is  hard  to  see 


IN  THE  FIRE-ENGINE  HOUSE  IQ 

just  what  is  going  on.  The  movement  began,  however, 
with  the  hammer  of  the  gong.  As  it  struck  the  com- 
pany's number,  it  opened  the  halter-straps  in  the  stalls, 
and  each  of  the  well-trained  horses  then  rushed  to  his 
place  in  front  of  the  fire  engine  or  the  tender.  The  men 
slid  down  the  poles,  fastening  their  clothing  as  they 


O 


"  Men,  horses,  and  machinery  work  together  " 

leaped  to  their  stations.  The  engine  and  tender  drivers 
jumped  to  their  seats,  hooked  the  belts  which  hold  them 
fast,  and  snatched  the  reins.  This  caused  the  harness 
to  drop  to  the  backs  of  the  horses.  Other  firemen 
snapped  it  fast  as  it  fell,  and  jumped  aboard  the  engine 
as  it  began  to  move  forward,  while  the  engineer  put  the 
burning  torch  to  the  fire  which  is  always  ready  laid  under 
the  boiler.  The  big  doors  flew  open  while  all  this  was 


20  THE  FIRE  DEPARTMENT 

going  on,  and  the  man  at  the  desk  shouted  to  the  driver 
the  location  of  the  lamp-post  box  from  which  the  alarm 
was  sent. 

It  has  taken  some  time  to  tell  about  the  main  things 
which  took  place  as  we  looked  on.  Yet  they  all  hap- 
pened almost  as  quickly  as  we  can  think.  Before  our 
eyes  the  race  to  the  fire  began.  First  the  engine  flew 
by,  and  then  the  tender  close  after  it,  each  carrying 
its  own  crew  of  firemen.  As  they  passed  us  the  men 
were  getting  into  their  rubber  coats,  putting  on  their 
great  helmets,  and  making  themselves  ready  for  the 
fight  that  lay  before  them. 

Not  a  man  in  all  the  company  thought  of  what  might 
happen  to  himself  in  that  fight.  Why  not  ?  Because  it 
is  a  fireman's  duty  to  save  the  lives  and  property  of 
the  people  from  danger  even  at  the  risk  of  his  own. 
The  word  of  command  may  send  him  where  stifling 
smoke  or  falling  walls  threaten,  but  he  obeys  instantly 
and  fearlessly.  He  knows  very  well  that  death  may 
overtake  him  at  any  moment,  but  should  it  come,  it 
always  finds  him  fighting  like  a  soldier,  to  his  own  last- 
ing honor  and  that  of  his  company. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE    TENEMENT-HOUSE    FIRE 

Now,  children,  be  quick!  No,  you  need  not  start  to 
run  after  the  flying  engine.  That  would  only  waste 
time.  I  know  a  better  way.  Take  off  your  caps,  wish 
yourselves  at  the  fire,  and  clap  the  caps  on  again  while 
you  make  the  wish. 

There!   they    have   brought    us    to  the    spot  even 


"  as  it  rushes  over  the  rough  pavement  " 

before  the  engine  itself.  You  can  hear  it  coming, 
though,  as  it  rushes  over  the  rough  pavement,  ringing 
its  bell  and  blowing  its  whistle  for  a  clear  road.  As 


22  THE  FIRE  DEPARTMENT 

it  nears  the  lamp-post  from  which  the  alarm  was  rung, 
a  policeman  waiting  beside  it  points  to  the  street  where 
the  fire  is,  to  show  the  driver  where  to  turn. 

Here  they  come!  Look  at  the  little  tender  pushing 
ahead  of  the  big  engine !  Its  men  are  already  unrolling 
the  big  coil  of  hose,  and  one  of  them  makes  a  flying 
jump  to  the  street.  Wrench  in  hand,  he  looks  for  the 
nearest  hydrant.  As  he  runs  toward  it,  another  engine 
and  its  tender  come  thundering  from  the  opposite  di- 
rection. Watch  the  drivers  of  the  two  tenders  as  they 
urge  their  horses  on,  and  watch  the  horses,  too,  pounding 
their  iron  hoofs  and  racing  with  all  their  might !  Each 
driver  wishes  his  own  company  to  have  the  honor  of 
"first  water,"  as  they  call  it;  an  honor  which  always 
belongs  to  the  tender  which  reaches  the  hydrant  first. 
Our  fireman  is  already  there,  but  our  tender  is  not  yet 
abreast  and  the  other  tender  is  coming  very  close. 
Ah!  our  driver  makes  a  spurt,  and  with  a  shout  pulls 
up  in  front  of  the  hydrant  before  the  other  can  reach  it! 
This  means  that  the  firemen  of  our  company  must  take 
full  charge  of  the  fire  until  the  Chief  arrives. 

The  other  company's  hose  men  having  rushed  on 
to  the  next  hydrant,  our  men  quickly  connect  their  hose 
and  start  the  water.  Other  engines  and  hook-and- 
ladder  trucks  are  coming  now,  one  after  another;  and 
as  they  arrive  our  foreman  orders  each  to  the  place  where 
it  can  do  the  best  work. 


THE  TENEMENT-HOUSE  FIRE  23 

The  fire  is  in  a  tenement  house,  and  before  we  came 
policemen  had  run  up  the  stairs,  knocking  loudly  on 
each  door  to  awaken  the  tenants.  Some  of  the  people 
managed  to  escape  by  way  of  the  stairs,  and  some  over 
the  roof.  Others  are  still  in  the  house  and  unable  to 


Hook-and- Ladder  Truck 

get  out,  for  the  fire  is  now  master  in  the  halls  and  stairs, 
and  in  some  of  the  rooms.  Poor  souls!  You  can  see 
them  standing  frightened  and  helpless  at  the  windows, 
waiting  for  the  firemen  to  save  them. 

While  the  hose  men  are  busy  at  the  hydrant,  other 
firemen  place  long  ladders  against  the  building.     A 


24  THE  FIRE  DEPARTMENT 

number  rush  inside  to  help  the  people  out,  and  the  rest 
of  the  company  begin  to  throw  streams  of  water  on  the 
flames,  and  also  on  the  houses  close  by,  to  keep  them 
from  taking  fire. 

It  is  a  terrible  scene!  Hundreds  of  people  are 
gathered  in  the  street,  but  the  police  keep  them  well 
outside  the  fire  lines.  This  prevents  them  from  crowd- 
ing the  firemen,  and  from  interfering  with  their  work. 
The  great  engines  groan  and  throb  as  they  pump  water 
from  the  hydrants  into  the  lines  of  hose,  and  the  smoke 
they  belch  forth  mingles  with  that  which  pours  from 
the  windows  of  the  burning  house.  Frightened  children 
are  screaming  for  their  mothers,  and  mothers  chase 
blindly  back  and  forth  through  the  smoke,  looking  for 
their  children  and  calling  aloud  for  them  in  their  terror. 
The  men  are  trying  their  best  to  get  their  families  down 
to  the  street  by  way  of  the  fire  escapes.  They  stumble 
and  fall  as  they  try  to  reach  the  ladders,  for  the  plat- 
forms of  the  fire  escapes  are  blocked  with  piles  of  rub- 
bish and  old  carpets,  with  washtubs  and  baskets,  with 
garbage  pails  and  coal  boxes! 

It  is  frightful  to  see  the  men  holding  fast  to  their 
little  ones,  trying  in  vain  to  move  the  heavy  things  out 
of  their  way.  It  is  the  same  on  every  floor,  and  the 
tenants,  unable  to  get  down,  are  turning  back  into  the 
smo"ke-filled  rooms.  Look!  they  are  crowding  now 
into  the  windows,  for  the  stairs  are  ablaze,  and  it  is 


THE  TENEMENT-HOUSE  FIRE  25 

their  only  chance.  Some  are  climbing  out  on  the  sills 
ready  to  jump  to  the  ground,  while  down  below  the 
onlookers  shout  to  them  to  wait,  wait ! 

rln  a  few  seconds,  which  seem  like  hours  to  the  terror- 
stricken  tenants,  they  are  reached  by  the  firemen  who 
have  come  up  the  burning  stairs.  You  can  see  them 
lift  up  women  and  children,  one  after  another,  and 
pass  them  out  to  the  firemen  who  are  waiting  on  the 
ladders  outside  to  carry  them  down  to  the  street. 


Hark!  a  loud  bell  is  clanging  above  the  noise  of  the 
engines,  above  the  hissing  of  the  water  where  it  falls 
upon  the  fire,  and  above  the  roar  of  the  flames.  It 
means  that  the  Chief  has  come !  His  first  act  is  to  order 
a  second  alarm,  for  he  knows  only  too  well  the  awful 
danger  of  a  tenement-house  fire.  This  alarm  brings 
more  engines  on  the  run,  and  more  firemen.  They 
swarm  everywhere,  and  it  is  impossible  to  watch  them 
all.  Some  chop  holes  in  the  roof  in  order  to  let  out  the 
stifling  smoke,  and  others  open  the  skylights  and 
scuttle  and  help  the  people  out  and  over  into  the  next 
house.  From  the  street  and  from  windows  in  buildings 
across  the  way,  some  throw  great  streams  of  water  into 
the  fire,  and  others  make  their  way  into  the  burning 
house  and  grope  about  for  those  who  may  have  fallen 
overcome  by  smoke  qr  by  fright.  And  always,  wherever 
they  are,  and  wherever  they  may  be,  they  are  on  the 
alert  for  orders,  and  obey  them  on  the  instant. 


THE    FIRE    DEPARTMENT 


It  is  a  bitter  cold  night,  and  the  spray  from  the  streams 
of  water  freezes  wherever  it  falls.  In  spite  of  the  heat 
from  the  fire,  the  window  sills  are  coated  with  sheets 
of  ice  drooping  over  their  edge  like  a  curtain.  Icicles 
hang  like  fringe  from  the  firemen's 
helmets,  and  their  rubber  coats  are 
frozen  stiff  and  shining  like 
glass.  Well  do  the  firemen 
know  the  danger  of 
a  single  misstep  on 
those  shaking,  slip- 
pery ladders,  but 
it  makes  them  only 
the  more  careful  of 
the  living  burdens 
they  carry  as  they  go 
down  the  icy  rungs. 
Look  there,  on  the  fourth 
floor,  if  you  would  see  how 
brave  a  fireman  can  be,  how 
quick  to  act  without  waiting 
for  orders !  Do  you  see  the 
one  I  mean,  coming  down 
the  ladder?  Ah,  the  smoke  hides  him  now,  so  watch 
for  him  lower  down.  There,  he,  has  just  passed  the 
third  floor!  He  is  coming  slowly,  for  a  woman  is  hang- 
ing over  his  shoulder.  See  how  she  shrinks  back  as 


He  is  coming  slowly 


THE  TENEMENT-HOUSE  FIRE  27 

they  pass  through  the  flames  pouring  out  from  the 
second  floor!  I  wonder  her  bending  away  like  that 
does  not  throw  both  of  them  headlong  to  the  sidewalk. 
He  is  almost  down  now,  and  other  firemen  reach  up 
for  the  woman.  Poor  thing!  she  has  fainted,  and 
they  are  calling  the  ambulance  doctor.  Think  what 
a  weight  she  must  have  been  for  him  to  carry  down 
that  icy,  swaying  ladder! 

Look,  children!  he  is  handing  over  a  child,  also!  It 
must  have  been  in  the  mother's  arms  all  the  time,  and 
our  fireman  has  saved  two  lives  at  the  same  time.  No, 
not  two  but  three !  For  he  is  trying  to  detach  a  scream- 
ing baby  from  the  hook  at  his  belt  where  it  has  been 
hanging  by  its  clothing!  I  do  not  wonder  the  little  thing 
cries.  Ah!  now  it  is  off  and  the  young  fireman  is  hand- 
ing it  over,  awkwardly  enough,  to  the  nearest  policeman. 
Both  men  are  coated  with  ice,  but  they  are  laughing 
heartily  at  the  baby's  novel  ride.  The  ambulance  doc- 
tor, who  has  seen  it  all,  does  not  laugh;  nor  do  we,  even 
when  the  brave  fireman  says: 

"Here,  Connors,  take  it!  I  never  handled  a  baby  in 
my  life.  You  have  some  of  your  own,  so  hush  it  up. 
It  howled  that  way  all  the  way  down,  and  had  me 
nervous  as  a  cat!  I  guess  it's  not  used  to  hanging  on  a 
hook!" 

See  him  go  up  the  ladder  once  more,  steadily  as  a 
sailor,  although  burning  shutters  are  dropping,  and 


28  THE  FIRE  DEPARTMENT 

falling  bricks  strike  him  as  he  climbs.  Down  below, 
the  Chief,  watching  the  progress  of  the  fire,  directs 
the  men  where  to  throw  the  water,  keeps  his  eyes  on 
the  walls  for  signs  of  toppling,  and  quietly  takes  note 
of  daring  deeds  like  this. 

Gradually  the  fire  is  quenched,  and  toward  morning 
comes  the  welcome  order  to  "shut  off"  water.  The 
Chief  never  delays  this  order  longer  than  he  must. 

/Water  often  injures  property  almost  as  much  as  fire 
injures  it.     So  the  firemen,  whose  duty  it  is  to  save 

\   property,  stop  pouring  on  water  as  soon  as  it  is  safe 

Vto^dgy^  \ 

The  last  companies  to  arrive  at  a  fire  are  the  first  to 
go  home.  The  men  of  each  company  sort  out  and 
gather  up  their  own  hose  from  the  twisted  lengths  which 
lie  tangled  up  on  the  frozen  pavement  like  so  many 
gigantic  snakes.  Others  pile  the  long  ladders  on  the 
trucks  and  unblanket  the  horses,  talking  to  them  a  bit, 
for  animals  love  praise  just  as  people  do.  One  after 
another  the  big  engines  roll  toward  home,  and  only 
our  company  stays  behind. 

"First  to  reach  the  fire,  last  to  go,"  is  the  rule.  Care- 
fully our  men  go  over  the  smoking  ruins,  looking  for 
smoldering  brands  which  might  kindle  a  second  fire. 
Firemen,  hardened  as  they  are  to  dangers*  always  dread 
this  final  search,  lest  they  find  the  remains  of  some  un- 
fortunate one  lost  in  the  fire.  Too  often  at  tenement- 


THE   TENEMENT-HOUSE   FIRE  2Q 

house  fires,  because  of  dark  and  winding  stairs,  and 
of  fire  escapes  choked  up  and  made  useless  by  the 
tenants  themselves,  death  overtakes  some  even  while 
the  firemen  are  saving  others. 

Fortunately  our  firemen  find  no  bodies  in  the  ruins, 
and  they  gather  up  their  apparatus  to  return  to  their 
engine  house.  They  are  worn  out  and  half  frozen,  but 
once  inside  the  house  they  quickly  forget  their  fierce 
tussle  with  the  fire,  thankful  that  no  man  of  their  num- 
ber is  missing  at  roll  call. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  LESSONS   FIRES  TEACH 

After  every  fire,  special  officers  from  the  Fire  Depart- 
ment make  a  careful  examination  of  the  building  where 
it  started.  These  officers  are  called  Fire  Marshals, 
and,  it  is  their  duty  to  learn  just  what  caused  the  fire, 
and  if  a  large  one,  why  it  gained  such  headway.  Most 
fires,  these  officers  state,  are  the  result  of  sheer  care- 
lessness. Those  persons  who  have  been  at  fault  are 
warned  to  be  more  careful  in  the  future,  and  to  use 
greater  precaution  against  the  outbreak  of  fires.  Should 
the  marshals  report,  after  examination,  that  the  fire 
was  the  result  neither  of  carelessness  nor  of  accident, 
but  that  it  was  started  on  purpose  by  some  one,  the 
police  are  called  upon  to  find  and  arrest  the  guilty  one. 
If  the  crime  can  be  proved  against  him,  he  is  sent  to 
prison  for  a  long  term,  a  punishment  which  he  richly 
merits. 

J  The  tenement-house  fire  told  of  in  the  last  chapter, 
was  caused  by  pure  carelessness.  No  one  meant  to  do 
harm,  although  a  great  deal  of  harm  was  done,  as  we 
saw.  There  was  a  bakery  on  the  street  floor  of  the 

tenement  house.    In  the  cellar  beneath  the  shop,  the 

3° 


THE   LESSONS   FIRES   TEACH  31 

baker  had  made  his  bread  and  cake,  pies  and  crullers, 
using  a  baking  range  which  stood  near  the  stairs.  On 
the  night  of  the  fire,  he  had  placed  upon  the  range  a 
big  pot  of  fat,  in  which  to  cook  some  crullers.  Fat  must 
be  very,  very  hot  to  give  crullers  their  rich  brown  color. 
The  baker  knew  this,  of  course,  and  he  also  knew  that 
fat  catches  fire  very  easily  when  it  stands  on  a  hot  stove. 
Instead  of  watching  it,  as  he  should  have  done,  he  went 
to  another  part  of  the  cellar  to  attend  to  something  else. 
Suddenly  he  noticed  the  smell  of  burning  grease,  and 
as  he  turned,  a  burst  of  flame  from  stove  to  ceiling  told 
him  that  the  fat  had  boiled  over. . 

Frightened  out  of  his  senses,  the  man  dashed  up  the 
stairs  and  into  the  street,  yelling  Fire!  Fire!  at  every 
step,  but  never  thinking  to  rouse  the  twenty  families 
lying  sound  asleep  above  what  was  now  a  roaring  fur- 
nace. A  policeman,  hearing  the  baker's  frantic  cries, 
hurriedly  sent  in  a  fire  alarm,  and  then  ran  up  the  stairs 
of  the  burning  house,  pounding  on  every  door  with  his 
night  stick,  and  shouting  to  the  tenants  to  awake.  The 
alarm  he  rang  was  the  3,  4,  2,  we  heard  come  in  at  the 
fire-engine  house,  and  our  magic  caps  helped  us  to  see 
what  followed. 

Every  fire  teaches  its  own  special  lesson  for  the  people 
to  heed.  This  fire  taught  more  than  one.  It  showed 
what  terrible  harm  can  come  of  carelessness  in  handling 
inflammable  things.  It  taught  the  folly  and  the  awful 


32  THE  FIRE  DEPARTMENT 

danger  of  blocking  up  fire  escapes  so  that  they  are  im- 
passable when  needed  most.    It  taught  a  third  lesson. 

Which  one  of  you  can  dis- 
cover and  point  it  out  ? 

The  most  awful  hotel 
fire  New  York  has  ever 
known  was  traced  to  the 
tossing  away  of  a  match 
while  it  was  yet  alight.  It 
fell  against  a  lace  curtain 


.     In 

stant  the  flimsy  curtain 
was  ablaze,  and  the  flames, 
fanned  by  the  wind,  ate 
their  way  all  unnoticed 
through  one  ceiling  after 
another  up  the  front  of 
the  building.  Let  me  tell 

A  Blocked-up  Fire  Escape  ,         ... 

you  more  about  it: 

It  was  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  iyth 
of  March,  1899.  The  big  Windsor  Hotel,  with  all 
its  flags  flying,  smiled  down  on  a  long  line  of  green- 
scarfed  men  parading  Fifth  Avenue  in  honor  of 
the  good  St.  Patrick.  The  hotel  covered  the  avenue 
block  from  Forty-sixth  to  Forty-seventh  Street,  and  its 
windows,  up  to  the  sixth  story,  were  filled  with  guests 


THE   LESSONS   FIRES   TEACH  33 

watching  the  gay  scene.  The  sidewalks  were  black 
with  crowds  who  sang  and  whistled  the  lively  Irish 
airs  the  bands  played  as  they  marched  by. 

A  waiter  in  the  hotel  caught  sight  of  the  blazing  cur- 
tains, and  he  hurried  to  the  main  entrance,  shouting 
loudly,  '  '  Fire !  Fire !  The  Windsor  is  afire ! ' ' 

But  his  excited  cries  were  drowned  in  the  music  out- 
side, and  within  all  was  wild  confusion.  Unfortunately, 
no  one  thought  of  sending  in  a  fire  alarm.  Or  else, 
as  often  happens,  every  one  thought  that  some  one  else 
had  done  so.  Finally  a  man  in  the  street  noticed  smoke 
curling  about  the  hotel  roof,  and  drew  the  attention 
of  a  policeman  to  it.  The  next  second  the  alarm 
was  ringing,  and  within  a  minute  and  a  half  the  first 
fire  engines  were  on  the  spot.  A  dozen  firemen,  seeing 
the  terrible  danger  the  guests  were  in,  swarmed  like 
squirrels  up  the  long  ladders  even  while  they  were 
being  raised  against  the  hotel  walls. 

The  guests  in  the  hotel,  hearing  the  engines,  looked 
up  and  down  the  avenue  idly,  wondering  where  the  fire 
might  be,  and  thinking  it  a  pity  that  the  parade  was 
spoiled.  Little  did  they  dream  that  even  then  great 
fans  of  flame  were  sweeping  through  the  halls  behind 
their  rooms,  cutting  off  all  chance  of  escape  in  that 
direction.  Indeed,  the  sight  of  the  firemen's  helmets 
rising  directly  in  front  of  their  windows,  gave  many  of 
them  their  first  warning  of  danger. 

Citizenship — 3 


34 


THE  FIRE  DEPARTMENT 


It  would  be  far  too  sad  a  story  were  I  to  describe  the 
awful  things  that  happened  that  lovely  spring  day.  In- 
stead, let  me  tell  you  how  a  number  of  lives  were  saved 
by  coolness  in  the  face  of  danger,  by  ready  obedience 
to  orders,  or  through  deeds  of  loyalty  and  of  true 
heroism.  And  as  you  read,  will  you  not  look  for  the 
lesson  each  little  story  tells,  and  take  it  to  heart  ?  Who 
knows  when  even  you,  my  young  reader, 
may  be  called  upon  to  face  something  of 
the  same  sort  ? 

A  coil  of  rope  hung  near  the  window  in 
every  room  in  the  hotel,  placed  there  to  be 
used  as  a  fire  escape,  if  necessary.  A  card 
attached  to  it  gave  full  directions  how  to 
lower  one's  self  to  the  street  with  the  rope, 
in  case  of  fire.  When  the  time  to  use  it 
came,  few  remembered  the  rope  and  still 
fewer  took  time  to  read  the  directions. 


lowered  her  safely  to  the  street " 


THE  LESSONS   FIRES   TEACH  35 

One  man,  however,  kept  perfectly  cool  and  remem- 
bered both.  Carefully  fastening  the  rope  about  the 
body  of  his  daughter,  he  lowered  her  safely  to  the  street. 
Some  one  loosened  the  rope  and  the  man  hauled  it  up 
again.  He  lowered  his  wife  next  in  the  same  manner. 
When  he  hauled  the  rope  up  again,  the  fire  had  already 
burned  its  way  into  his  room.  The  flames  leaped 
toward  the  open  window,  but  the  man  remained  cool 
and  even  waited  to  wrap  towels  about  his  hands  before 
sliding  down  the  rope.  A  minute  later  he  stood  safely 
on  the  sidewalk,  his  hands  not  so  much  as  blistered, 
ready  to  aid  in  assisting  the  escape  of  others. 

In  one  of  the  larger  rooms  of  the  hotel,  thirty  little 
children  were  having  a  dancing  lesson.  A  maid  who 
was  with  them,  happened  to  open  the  door  into  the  hall. 
Hastily  she  threw  it  shut  again.  She  had  seen  the  smoke 
and  flames  outside,  but  she  was  wise  enough  not  to 
scream.  Instead  she  whispered  a  quick  word  into  the 
teacher's  ear.  Both  women  were  now  white  as  chalk, 
and  the  teacher  trembled  for  her  little  charges  as  she 
glanced  at  their  thin  lace  frocks. 

Only  for  a  second,  however.  She  controlled  herself 
with  a  great  effort,  and  quietly  told  the  children  that 
the  lesson  was  over  for  the  day.  With  the  help  of  the 
maids  present,  she  hurried  them  into  their  cloaks. 
These  were  heavy,  she  reasoned,  and  would  not  catch 
fire  so  quickly  as  the  thin  dresses  the  children  wore. 


36  THE  FIRE    DEPARTMENT 

She  bade  them  form  in  line,  each  holding  the  next  by 
the  hand,  and  not  to  let  go,  for  any  reason  whatever. 
Then  she  told  them  to  follow  her  wherever  she  might 
lead.  As  she  opened  the  door,  the  little  ones  started 
back  in  fear  at  sight  of  the  fire  beyond  it.  But  she 
promised  to  get  all  of  them  safely  out,  if  they  kept 
tight  hold  of  hands  and  followed  where  she  led. 

Then  the  long  line  began  to  move.  Hugging  the  walls, 
creeping  along  the  floor,  twisting  its  way  down  the 
smoke-filled  staircases,  the  little  band  finally  reached 
the  street,  every  one  safe  and  sound,  simply  because  of 
obedience  to  orders.  The  children,  obeying  one  clear- 
headed leader,  marched  out  in  as  orderly  a  manner  as 
in  a  school  fire  drill,  in  spite  of  the  terrible  smoke  and 
flames.  And  so  it  came  about  that  thirty  children  were 
saved  at  a  fire  where  many  grown-up  men  and  women 
were  unable  to  escape. 

In  another  room  in  the  hotel,  a  lady  lay  ill  in  bed. 
Her  trained  nurse  heard  a  strange  noise  in  the  hall, 
and  looked  out.  Against  the  awful  background  of 
reddened  smoke  and  whirling  flame,  she  saw  two  men 
running  wildly  to  and  fro,  hunting  in  vain  for  the  stair- 
ways. She  knew  that  the  stairs  were  at  the  other  end  of 
the  building,  and  that  the  fire  roared  between.  It  was 
plain  that  the  men  could  never  reach  them,  so  she  pulled 
both  into  her  room,  locked  the  door  after  them,  and 
dropped  the  key  into  her  pocket.  The  excited  men 


THE   LESSONS  FIRES   TEACH  37 

tried  to  force  it  from  her.  She  smiled  quietly,  and 
calmly  told  them  that  she  would  show  them  the  way 
out  if  they  would  follow  her. 

Wrapping  a  blanket  about  her  patient,  she  carried 
her  bodily  to  the  fire  escape  outside  the  window,  afraid 
to  trust  her  to  the  frightened  men,  who  were  so  much 
stronger  than  herself.  Then  down  the  ladder  she  went, 
bearing  her  burden  bravely,  and  bidding  the  half- 
crazed  men  follow.  Halfway  down  firemen  came  to 
meet  her,  and  presently  all  four  were  safe  in  the  street. 

Loyalty  to  duty,  even  in  the  face  of  deadly  peril, 
led  the  nurse  to  save  her  patient;  and  woman  though 
she  was,  her  coolness  and  determination  saved  the  lives 
of  two  men  so  overcome  by  fear  that  they  were  unable 
to  help  themselves.  The  same  loyalty  to  duty  kept 
the  elevator  boys,  Joyce  and  Guion,  at  their  posts  when 
they  might  have  made  their  escape.  Each  of  these 
heroes  made  trip  after  trip,  carrying  his  car  up  and 
down,  up  and  down,  rescuing  guests  from  the  upper 
floors,  and  stopping  only  when  the  elevator  shaft  had 
turned  into  a  column  of  solid,  roaring  flame.  Poor  and 
unknown,  these  two  young  men  proved  themselves  that 
day  heroes  of  the  highest  type. 

Some  of  you  may  have  heard  of  the  Iroquois  Theater 
fire  in  Chicago.  Many  lives  were  lost  that  afternoon, 
chiefly  because  few  in  the  audience  knew  where  to 
find  the  exits,  and  their  fright  turned  into  mad  and 


38  THE  FIRE  DEPARTMENT 

senseless  panic.  The  lesson  the  horror  of  this  fire 
brings  home  to  all,  is  one  you  should  never,  never  let 
yourselves  forget.  Put  into  simple  words,  it  tells  you 
always  to 

Look  for  the  exit  nearest  you,  whenever  you  are  in  a 
theater  or  any  other  crowded  place,  and  remember  where 
it  is.  You  will  know  it  by  the  red  light  burning  there 
and  the  word  EXIT. 

If  people  would  only  remember,  in  case  of  fire,  to 
move  toward  the  nearest  exit  quietly,  and  in  an  orderly 
manner,  escape  would  be  within  the  reach  of  all,  and 
panic  would  be  unknown.  You  have  seen  how  quickly 
the  fire  drill  empties  a  crowded  school.  This  is  because 
the  pupils  march  out  in  order,  each  section  taking  the 
nearest  staircase.  Imagine  the  confusion,  if  the  chil- 
dren were  permitted,  in  a  fire  drill  or  in  a  quick  dis- 
missal, to  rush  about  hunting  for  stairs.  Then  im- 
agine what  would  happen  if  smoke  and  flames  were 
about  them!  It  is  really  too  dreadful  to  think  about, 
yet  this  is  just  what  happened  in  the  Iroquois  Theater, 
and  in  many  other  theaters  and  churches  which  have 
caught  fire  when  crowded  with  people.  Is  not  this  a 
lesson  plain  enough  for  all  to  profit  by,  and  to  remember 
for  all  time  ? 


CHAPTER  V 

HOW  CITIZENS   CAN  HELP   THE   FIRE   DEPARTMENT 

The  child  who  must  learn  maxims  by  heart,  may 
not  always  discover  the  kernel  of  wisdom  each  one  con- 
tains, until  it  has  been  pointed  out.  All  of  you,  however, 
who  read  these  pages,  are  old  enough  to  understand  the 
real  meaning  in  the  sound  and  excellent  maxim:  "An 
ounce  of  prevention  is  worth  a  pound  of  cure." 

Of  course,  no  one  can  buy  "  prevention  "  by  the  ounce, 
nor  sell  "cure"  by  the  pound.  The  maxim  means 
simply  that  it  is  easier  and  better  to  prevent  trouble 
than  to  cure  it  after  it  has  come;  or  that  the  use  of  a 
little  prevention  will  save  a  great  deal  of  cure.  This  is 
true  of  all  kinds  of  trouble,  from  illness  which  destroys 
our  health,  to  fire  which  destroys  our  property. 

We  have  seen  how  the  Fire  Department  does  its 
best  to  put  out  fires.  It  must  also  do  its  best  to  prevent 
fires.  It  is  here  that  the  citizens  can  help,  and  that  they 
are  expected  to  help.  Too  often  fires  are  caused  by 
their  carelessness.  I  have  made  use  of  the  word  "  citi- 
zens." I  am  not  sure  that  all  of  you  understand  what 
the  word  means,  and  it  is  important  that  you  should 
understand.  "  Citizens,"  as  I  use  the  term  in  this  book, 

39 


40  THE   FIRE   DEPARTMENT 

are  all  the  people,  men,  women,  and  children,  who  live 
in  any  one  place.  That  is  to  say,  all  the  people  who 
live  in  New  York  city  are  meant,  when  I  speak  of  the 
citizens  of  New  York;  and  all  the  people  who  live  in 
some  other  city  are  citizens  of  that  other  city. 

In  the  story  of  the  tenement-house  fire,  you  read  of 
the  hard  work  the  firemen  had,  trying  to  save  the  lives 
and  also  the  property  of  the  tenants.  All  of  it  might 
have  been  prevented,  if  the  careless  baker  had  only 
paid  a  little  attention  to  his  kettle  of  boiling  fat.  Pic- 
ture to  yourselves  the  fright  and  distress  of  the  poor 
tenants,  awakened  from  sleep  to  face  blazing  staircases 
and  halls  black  with  choking  smoke.  Proper  care  on 
the  part  of  the  baker  would  have  saved  all  this,  and  it 
would  have  proved  an  " ounce  of  prevention"  worth 
many  pounds  of  cure. 

In  the  chapter  describing  the  burning  of  the  beautiful 
hotel,  where  many  persons  lost  their  lives  in  broad  day- 
light, you  learned  that  the  fire  was  started  by  a  burn- 
ing match  tossed  lightly  away  without  a  thought  of 
the  harm  it  might  do.  If  the  man  who  struck  it  had 
only  been  careful  enough  to  blow  it  out  before  casting 
it  aside,  the  fire  would  not  have  occurred.  Surely, 
surely,  this  tiny  bit  of  care  would  have  been  an  "  ounce 
of  prevention"  of  untold  value. 

It  is  just  such  little  "ounces"  as  these  that  citizens 
should  use  to  prevent  fires.  How  often  they  neglect 


HOW  CITIZENS  CAN  HELP  41 

to  use  them  may  be  seen  in  the  number  of  fires  which 
break  forth  every  day.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  our  lit- 
tle citizens  are  to  blame  for  some  of  these  fires.  You 
may  guess  that  I  mean  the  great  fires  that  are  some- 
times started  by  your  bonfires  and  your  firecrackers. 
I  do.  Both  kinds  of  amusement  are  dangerous,  to 
yourselves  and  to  others;  and  whenever  you  play  with 
fire  in  any  form  you  should  watch  it  every  moment  lest 
the  pretty  servant  become  the  terrible  master. 

The  sparks  which  fly  so  gaily  from  your  bonfire 
are  quite  as  dangerous  as  the  sparks  which,  blown 
from  other  bonfires  into  an  open  window  or  against 
some  dry  awning,  have  started  disastrous  fires.  Nor 
is  this  the  worst  they  can  do. 

The  sight  of  children  dancing  around  a  merry  bon- 
fire, sends  a  cold  chill  to  many  a  mother's  aching 
heart.  To  one,  it  may  bring  back  the  day  when  a 
single  glowing  spark  set  her  little  girl's  frock  aflame, 
and  before  help  could  come  burned  the  child  to  death. 
To  another  it  brings  the  memory  of  a  little  boy's  mis- 
step and  sudden  fall  into  a  gloriously  blazing  bonfire. 
Here,  rescuing  hands  were  quick  to  lift  the  child  from 
the  flames,  but  not  quick  enough  to  save  him  from 
burns  which  made  him  hopelessly  blind.  These  are 
but  two  of  the  sad  stories  many  unhappy  mothers  could 
tell,  for  the  list  of  accidents  caused  by  the  pretty  bon- 
fires is  very,  very  long. 


42  THE  FIRE  DEPARTMENT 

Longer  still  is  the  list  of  cases  where  toy  pistols, 
firecrackers,  and  other  fireworks  are  to  blame  for 
dreadful  scars,  for  loss  of  sight  or  hearing,  and  for 
bodies  maimed  or  crippled  for  life.  Young  citizens 
cannot  be  too  careful  with  fireworks.  Besides  causing 
many  injuries,  and  setting  many  houses  on  fire,  the 
sudden  explosion  of  firecrackers  often  frightens  horses 
into  running  away.  The  wagons  or  carriages  to  which 
they  are  harnessed  overturn,  and  the  people  in  them 
are  thrown  out  and  hurt.  Persons  who  cannot  get  out 
of  the  way  of  the  flying  hoofs  are  trampled,  and  some- 
times the  animal  as  it  tears  by  starts  other  runaways. 

Bonfires  and  firecrackers,  however,  are  not  the  only 
things  by  which  children  cause  fires.  How  about 
matches?  Do  you  always  look  to  see  that  the  last 
spark  is  out  before  you  throw  one  away?  Are  you 
always  careful  to  watch  where  it  falls?  Matches 
are  dangerous  even  when  lying  idle,  as  you  shall  pres- 
ently see.  The  care  of  matches  before  using  them 
would  prove  a  valuable  ounce  of  prevention.  Grown-up 
people  are  always  busy.  Would  it  not  be  a  fine  thing 
if  the  children,  the  little  citizens,  would  make  it  their 
special  duty  to  look  after  the  household  matches  ? 

Let  us  see  what  you  can  do  in  this  direction,  and 
how  you  can  prevent  disastrous  fires.  First  of  all,  you 
can  look  to  it  that  the  matches  are  stored  in  a  safe  place, 
away  from  the  heat  of  the  stove,  and  out  of  reach  of 


HOW  CITIZENS  CAN  HELP  43 

the  very  little  children.  Then  you  can  protect  the 
match  heads  from  mice.  Do  you  know  that  these  cun- 
ning little  creatures  like  to  nibble  at  match  heads,  and 
that  their  hard  teeth  often  set  the  matches  afire  ?  Many 
a  building  has  been  burned  to  the  ground  by  a  fire 
started  in  this  very  way.  If  you  little  citizens  will  but 
see  that  the  matches  are  kept  in  a  covered  metal  or 
china  box,  no  hungry  little  mouse  can  do  such  dreadful 
damage.  Another  ounce  of  prevention  you  can  employ 
lies  in  making  it  a  habit  to  pick  up  any  match  you  see 
lying  on  the  floor  or  the  street,  and  to  put  it  where  it 
can  do  no  harm.  Women  have  sometimes  had  their 
skirts  set  on  fire,  and  have  been  burned,  merely  through 
stepping  upon  a  match  which  blazed  up  as  the  shoe 
struck  it  in  passing. 

Have  you  ever  noticed  the  sudden  puff  gas  makes 
when,  after  turning  it  on,  you  hold  a  lighted  match  to 
the  burner?  This  puff  is  the  noise  of  the  explosion 
which  always  follows  when  a  flame,  or  even  a  spark, 
meets  a  mixture  of  gas  and  air.  When  you  opened 
the  key  back  of  the  burner  in  order  to  light  the  gas, 
it  allowed  only  a  little  of  the  gas  to  escape;  therefore 
the  explosion  which  followed  was  tiny.  There  would 
have  been  a  big  explosion  had  you  allowed  a  large 
quantity  of  gas  to  escape,  before  you  touched  the 
lighted  match  to  it.  In  place  of  the  small  and  steady 
flame  you  wished  to  obtain,  you  would  have  found  your 


44  THE  FIRE  DEPARTMENT 

clothing  and  the  whole  room  around  you  ablaze  in  an 
instant,  and  the  explosion  would  have  shattered  the 
walls  and  windows  more  quickly  than  you  could  break 
a  glass. 

The  gas  we  use  for  heating  and  lighting  is  perfectly 
harmless  so  long  as  it  burns  under  control.  It  is  very 
dangerous  when  it  escapes.  The  keys  or  cocks  on  stoves 
and  fixtures  should  therefore  always  be  shut  securely 
when  not  in  actual  use.  Loose  keys  are  dangerous 
and  should  be  promptly  tightened.  Where  a  rubber 
tube  is  used  to  connect  a  lamp  or  a  stove  to  a  distant 
gas  fixture,  it  should  fit  closely  at  both  ends.  The  rub- 
ber in  the  tube  wears  out  quickly,  and  then  allows  the 
gas  to  leak  through.  Replacing  a  leaky  tube  with  a 
new  one  is  an  ounce  of  prevention  that  should  not  be 
put  off  a  single  day. 

Gas  has  a  strong  odor,  and  whenever  we  smell  it, 
we  may  be  sure  it  is  escaping  somewhere.  It  is  never 
safe  to  search  for  the  leak  with  a  light.  People  are  very 
careless  in  this  way,  and  often  cause  an  explosion  which 
will  start  a  fire,  and  perhaps  lead  to  the  loss  of  life.  It 
is  far  wiser  to  feel  one's  way  in  the  dark  to  the  nearest 
window  and  throw  it  open,  or  even  smash  the  glass, 
in  order  to  let  the  gas  out  and  the  fresh  air  in,  than  to 
hunt  for  the  leak  with  a  lighted  match  or  candle,  and 
risk  a  terrible  explosion. 

Citizens  should  always  remember  to  use  the  ounce  of 


HOW  CITIZENS  CAN  HELP  45 

prevention  when  handling  inflammable  fluids  like  al- 
cohol, kerosene,  benzine,  naphtha,  and  turpentine. 
Cans  and  bottles  containing  them  should  never  be  left 
standing  uncorked.  When  they  are  left  open  the  fumes 
escape  into  the  room  in  much  the  same  way  that  gas 
does  from  an  open  burner.  The  flame  of  a  match,  a 
candle,  or  a  lamp,  even  the  heat  from  the  kitchen  stove, 
will  set  the  fumes  ablaze  more  quickly  than  a  match  will 
light  gas.  When  the  fumes  take  fire  an  explosion  fol- 
lows, and  the  blazing  stuff  is  scattered  in  all  directions. 

Not  one  of  these  dangerous  fluids  should  ever  be 
handled  at  night,  or  in  the  evening.  When  one  of  them 
is  used  the  work  should  be  done  at  an  open  window, 
and  always  early  in  the  day.  The  fumes  will  then  have 
been  blown  away  before  it  grows  dark  enough  for 
lights.  For  the  same  reason,  lamps  and  oil  stoves 
should  always  be  cleaned  and  refilled  in  the  morning. 

Citizens  should  never  allow  piles  of  rubbish  to  collect 
in  a  cellar  or  near  a  stairway.  A  burning  match  or  a 
cigarette  carelessly  thrown  away,  can  start  a  dangerous 
fire  in  such  a  pile  very  easily. 

I  wonder  whether  any  of  you  know  that  great  fires 
may  begin  without  so  much  as  a  spark  to  start  them. 
This  may  sound  strange,  but  it  is  true.  It  happens  very 
often  where  oily  rags,  paints,  and  papers  are  left  in  a 
closet,  or  near  a  stove  or  radiator.  The  oily  rags  used 
for  cleaning  purposes  ought  to  be  buried  afterward, 


46  THE  FIRE  DEPARTMENT 

under  cold  ashes  or  sand.  People  who  think  it  necessary 
to  save  them  from  one  day  to  the  next,  should  always 
keep  them  in  a  cool  place  in  a  covered  stone  jar,  or  in  a 
clay  flower-pot.  Do  you  not  think  it  far  better,  all 
around,  to  take  this  bit  of  trouble,  than  to  be  awakened 
in  the  dead  of  night  by  flames  crackling  about  you  ? 

It  is  the  citizen's  duty  to  keep  his  fire  escapes  clear, 
for  who  can  tell  when  or  where  a  fire  may  break  out  ? 
Fire  escapes  are  intended  to  help  people  escape  from  a 
burning  house;  they  are  not  intended  to  be  used  as  a 
handy  storage  place  for  things  which  are  in  the  way  in- 
doors, nor  yet  as  a  convenient  shelf  for  plants. 

Suppose  you  had  been  caught  in  the  tenement-house 
fire,  instead  of  having  watched  it  from  the  outside;  do 
you  think  you  could  ever  forget  the  terrible  danger 
which  lies  in  a  choked-up  fire  escape?  Truly  a  clear 
fire  escape  is  an  ounce  of  prevention  that  is  always 
well  worth  while. 

Every  citizen,  young  or  old,  should  know  how  to  send 
a  fire  alarm,  as  well  as  where  to  find  the  fire-alarm  box 
nearest  his  home  and  nearest  his  place  of  business. 
This  may  seem  a  very  small  ounce  of  prevention,  but 
even  small  things  have  their  uses.  In  case  of  fire,  the 
time  wasted  in  hunting  for  the  fire-alarm  box,  or  in 
blundering  over  giving  the  fire  signal,  may  mean  loss 
of  life  which  the  firemen,  by  arriving  earlier,  might 
have  saved. 


HOW  CITIZENS  CAN  HELP 


47 


To  send  an  alarm: 

Turn  the  handle  on  the  door  of  the  alarm  box  toward 
the  right.  This  will  ring  a  bell  and  open  the  door.  Do 
not  run  away,  for  you  have 
NOT  yet  sent  the  alarm.  The 
bell  is  only  a  signal  to  the 
nearest  policeman  that  some 
one  has  opened  the  box. 
When  the  door  of  the  box 
opens,  you  will  see  a  hook 
inside.  Pull  this  hook 
downward,  once  ONLY. 

You  have  now  sent  the  alarm,  and 
the  Fire  Department  will  do  the  rest. 
Remain    standing  at   the  box,  how- 
ever, until  the  policeman  comes.     If 
you  cannot  wait,  tell  any  passer-by  Sendin  anAlarm 
just  where  the  fire  is,  and  ask  him 
to  tell  the  policeman  when  he  arrives  at  the  box. 
Unless  you  do  this,  who  will  direct  the  firemen,  as  they 
rush  by,  just  where  to  go  ?   And  who  will  be  to  blame  for 
the  valuable  time  they  lose  in  trying  to  locate  the  fire  ? 

I  hope  none  of  you  will  ever  be  caught  in  a  burning 
building.  If  it  should  happen  to  you  while  in  school, 
the  best  thing  to  do  is  to 

SIT  STILL,  KEEP  STILL,  AND  WAIT  FOR 
ORDERS. 


48  THE  FIRE  DEPARTMENT 

Depend  upon  your  teacher  and  pin  your  faith  to  the 
fire  drill.  You  know  how  quickly  it  empties  the  school 
when  there  is  no  fire.  It  will  surely  take  no  longer, 
even  though  you  see  smoke  and  flames.  Never  mind 
about  your  clothing.  Better  to  lose  that  than  your  life. 
Obey  every  signal  promptly  and  quietly,  as  always, 
and  do  not  be  silly  enough  to  scream  and  frighten  others. 
Leave  everything  to  your  teachers.  They  will  surely 
get  you  out  in  safety,  just  as  that  other  teacher  did  when 
she  saved  the  little  girls  of  the  dancing  class  in  the 
Windsor  Hotel. 


CHAPTER  VI 

OBEYING   THE   FIREMEN'S   ORDERS 

If  you  should  be  in  a  church,  a  theater,  or  a  factory 
when  fire  breaks  out,  make  your  way  to  the  nearest  exit 
as  fast  as  you  can.  Show  those  around  you  the  way 
there,  but  never,  never  push  them  aside.  There  is 
always  time  for  all  to  escape  in  an  orderly  manner,  and 
pushing  will  start  a  fight  or  a  panic,  and  cause  fatal 
delay.  If  you  cannot  find  the  exit,  stand  near  a  window, 
or  in  any  other  place  where  the  firemen  can  see  you, 
and  wait  there  until  they  come.  They  will  rescue  you 
if  you  stand  still  and  obey  orders. 

In  the  following  account,  you  may  read  the  true  story 
of  a  thrilling  rescue,  due  to  a  man's  readiness  to  obey 
the  order  of  a  fireman,  though  to  do  so  involved  a 
frightful  risk. 

The  Hotel  Royal  in  New  York  was  a  mass  of  flame 
from  cellar  to  roof  when  the  noise  awoke  from  sound 
sleep  a  guest  who  had  been  forgotten  in  the  excitement 
of  the  fire.  He  opened  the  door  of  his  room  and  looked 
into  the  corridor.  A  single  glance  showed  him  that  he 
could  never  reach  the  staircase  alive.  Shutting  the  door, 

Citizenship — 4  49 


50  THE  FIRE  DEPARTMENT 

he  hurried  to  the  window  and  clambered  out.  Standing 
there  upon  the  outside  sill,  he  wondered  what  to  do 
next.  He  could  see  firemen  on  a  roof  near  by,  and 
as  they  looked  across  they  caught  sight  of  him. 

The  space  between  them  was  only  a  few  feet,  but 
the  window  sill  where  the  man  stood  was  one  story 
below  the  roof  where  the  firemen  were.  They  were 
very  close,  it  seemed,  to  the  man  who  needed  their 
help  so  sorely,  yet  they  were  just  too  far  away  to  give  it. 
How  the  firemen  longed  for  a  single  plank  to  bridge 
the  space,  or  for  a  rope  to  throw  across  if!  There  was 
no  time  to  send  for  either  one  or  the  other,  for  the 
greedy  flames  were  already  lighting  the  room  the  man 
had  just  left. 

The  poor  man,  standing  on  the  sill,  looked  hopelessly 
across  the  narrow  space,  and  then  at  the  fire  glowing 
red  behind  him.  Truly,  it  seemed,  there  was  nothing 
left  but  to  jump  to  the  ground  five  stories  below.  It 
meant  death,  he  knew,  but  it  was  a  death  less  painful 
than  to  die  by  fire.  The  firemen  on  the  roof  seemed 
to  read  his  thoughts.  It  was  more  than  they  could  bear. 
Standing  so  close,  how  could  they  let  the  man  leap  to 
his  death  before  their  very  eyes? 

"Don't  jump!"  shouted  the  captain.  "Wait!" 
And  commanding  his  men  to  hold  his  feet,  he  flung 
himself  head  foremost  over  the  edge  of  the  roof.  Then 
he  stretched  far  out  to  reach  the  man  standing  on  the 


OBEYING    THE    FIREMEN'S    ORDERS 


window  sill.    It  was  impossible,  the  distance  was  too 
great ! 

The  man  he  was  trying  to  save  saw  the  fireman's 
intention,  saw  his  brave  effort,  and  saw  its  failure  also. 

He  thanked  the  fireman 
for  it,  and  then  added, 
firmly: 

"It's  no  use,  Captain. 
You   cannot   do    it.      It 
would  only  kill  you,  too. 
I     weigh      two     hundred 
pounds." 

The  black  smoke  curled 
between  them.  The  flames 
and    leaped    toward    their 
The  heat  was  scorching  both 
men,  so  near  each  other,  yet  so  far 
apart.     The  captain  heard  the  man's 
words,  but  he  paid  no  heed.    He  was 
thinking  very  fast.    Then  he  spoke: 

"Listen,  my  man!  When  I  give  the 
word,  jump  for  me,  with  your  hands  far 
out.  I  can  catch  you.  Now!  " 

It  was  a  desperate  order,  and  it  called  for 
a  desperate  act.  But  the  man  obeyed  it  on  the  instant. 
With  arms  outstretched  he  leaped  forward,  and  the  gal- 
lant captain  caught  him  by  both  wrists! 


roared, 
victim. 


He  leaped 
forward  " 


52  THE    FIRE    DEPARTMENT 

Very  likely  some  of  you  have  seen  men  do  this  on 
a  flying  trapeze.  Perhaps  you  have  tried  it  yourself 
in  a  gymnasium  and  think  it  an  easy  thing.  It  may  be 
for  those  who  are  trained  to  it  by  much  practice,  and 
where  nets  or  cushioned  mats  are  spread  to  catch  them 
should  they  miss  or  fall.  It  was  different  here.  Clouds 
of  smoke  whirled  between  the  captain  and  the  man  he 
was  trying  to  save.  Instead  of  nets  carefully  spread 
to  break  the  possible  fall,  a  stone  pavement  awaited 
them  seventy  feet  below.  The  one  man  had  never 
trained,  and  the  other,  head  downward,  was  hanging 
across  a  roof  edge  that  cut  painfully  into  his  flesh. 

It  was  a  daring  and  wonderful  act  for  both,  and  it 
succeeded.  Yet  even  as  the  men  hung  there,  the  one 
holding  up  the  other,  it  seemed  all  to  no  purpose.  The 
captain  weighed  quite  as  much  as  the  man  he  held  by 
the  wrists,  and  the  three  firemen  on  the  roof,  tugging, 
pulling,  straining  all  their  strength,  were  unable  to  draw 
up  the  two  who  hung  dangling  from  the  roof  edge. 

What  chance  was  there  now  for  the  man  who  had 
taken  the  daring  leap?  Would  the  brave  captain  be 
forced,  after  all,  to  let  him  drop?  Not  he!  not  he! 
though  his  arms  felt  as  if  they  were  being  pulled  from 
his  body.  Not  he!  Was  he  not  a  New  York  fireman 
trained  and  expected  to  use  his  brain  as  well  as  his 
hands,  and  to  act  quickly  in  emergency? 

Let  the  man  drop?     Oh  no!     Instead,  he  gripped 


OBEYING    THE    FIREMEN'S    ORDERS  53 

his  wrists  the  tighter,  and  then  began  to  swing  him  from 
side  to  side,  like  the  pendulum  in  a  clock.  Slowly  he 
moved  at  first,  very  slowly,  because  of  his  weight.  Then 
gradually  faster  and  in  wider  arcs,  swinging  ever 
higher,  inch  by  inch,  until  at  last  the  other  firemen  on 
the  roof,  by  reaching  far  down,  caught  hold  of  the  man 
and  pulled  him  up  to  safety.  Then,  but  not  till  then, 
did  the  captain  loose  his  hold  upon  the  wrists  of  the  man 
he  had  saved.  The  firemen  on  the  roof  lost  no  time, 
you  may  be  sure,  in  drawing  their  heroic  leader  up,  and 
the  rescue,  at  one  time  so  hopeless,  was  complete ! 

Next  day  the  world  rang  with  praises  for  the  captain, 
but  that  hero  considered  his  act  but  a  simple  thing  such 
as  any  other  fireman  might  -have  done.  To  my  mind, 
honor  is  due  both  to  the  saver  and  the  saved.  The  one 
did  his  duty  as  he  saw  it,  never  counting  his  own  risk 
or  suffering.  The  other  played  his  part  equally  well, 
keeping  cool  under  the  most  frightful  conditions,  and 
bravely  obeying  a  most  desperate  order. 

The  records  of  the  Fire  Department  are  crowded 
with  true  hero  stories.  Its  men  are  always  ready  to  pro- 
tect the  property  of  the  citizens  as  well  as  their  lives, 
no  matter  into  what  dangers  it  may  plunge  them.  Not 
one  ever  forgets,  even  for  a  moment,  that  the  honor  of 
all  is  in  the  keeping  of  each,  and  consequently  no  risk 
is  too  great  for  him  to  take.  The  men  never  think  of  a 
personal  reward,  but  the  Fire  Department  roll  of  honor 


54 


THE  FIRE   DEPARTMENT 


is  long,  and  I  am  glad  to  say  many  of  the  members  have 
received  medals  for  their  bravery,  and  promotion  for 
their  deeds  of  merit  and  true  heroism. 


"  Many  have  received  medals  for  their 
bravery  " 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE   POLICE    DEPARTMENT 

Fire  is  not  the  only  danger  which  threatens  people 
who  live  in  cities.  Wherever  a  large  number  of  people 
dwell  in  one  place,  some  persons  among  them  always 
make  trouble  for  the  others.  The  wicked  ones  rob  or 
illtreat  their  neighbors,  and  those  who  are  merely  care- 
less do  harm  in  other  ways.  You  sometimes  see  the 
same  thing  in  school,  when  the  naughty  children  and 
the  heedless  ones  annoy  others  by  their  misconduct. 

Schools  have  certain  rules  to  prevent  disorder,  and 
all  the  pupils,  good  and  bad  alike,  must  obey  them. 
Cities  have  rules  also,  or  "laws,"  as  they  are  called,  to 
secure  peace  and  safety  for  the  people  at  large ;  and  like 
schools  they  punish  those  who  disobey  the  laws.  The 
punishment  is  necessary  to  make  people  respect  the 
laws,  and  to  prevent  wrongdoing. 

Rules  and  laws,  whether  few  or  many,  are  of  little 
value  unless  there  are  officers  who  see  that  they  are 
obeyed.  The  principal  and  teachers  do  this  in  school, 
and  sometimes  they  ask  trustworthy  pupils  to  help  them. 
In  large  cities  like  New  York,  the  Mayor  appoints  a 
Commissioner  of  Police  for  this  purpose.  His  duty  is 

55 


THE    POLICE    DEPARTMENT 


to  enforce  the  laws.  In  other  words,  he  must  see  that 
every  one  who  lives  in  the  city,  or  who  visits  it,  refrains 
from  breaking  its  laws. 

The  larger  the  city  and  the  more  crowded  it  is,  the 

more  laws  it  needs. 
The  city  of  New 
York,  for  example, 
has  a  great  many 
laws,  and  it  would 
take  you  a  very 
long  time  to  learn 
them.  This  is  real- 
ly not  necessary, 
for  so  long  as  you 
act  honestly,  be- 
have in  an  orderly 

Police  Headquarters,  New  York  manner,      and      do 

nothing  to  inter- 
fere with  the  rights  of  any  one  else,  you  are  in  no 
danger  of  breaking  these  laws. 

It  is  not  an  easy  task  to  see  that  the  four  millions  of 
people  who  live  in  New  York  obey  its  laws.  It  means 
that  hundreds  of  streets  must  be  watched,  and  many 
miles  of  water  front  and  piers,  piled  high  with  valuable 
freight,  must  be  guarded.  The  sailors  on  the  ships 
which  come  and  go  in  the  waters  must  be  kept  under 
control,  and  the  strangers  who  visit  the  city  must  be 


THE  POLICE  DEPARTMENT  57 

properly  cared  for  and  protected  from  harm.  Day  and 
night  this  work,  and  much  more  than  this,  goes  on  year 
after  year,  in  order  to  guard  the  citizens  and  their 
property  from  the  harm  the  thoughtless  ones  and  the 
evil-minded  can  do. 

Of  course,  no  one  man  could  attend  to  all  this  un- 
aided. It  requires  a  force  of  picked  and  trained  men; 
a  force  so  large  that  it  is  an  army  in  itself.  It  is  an  honor 
to  belong  to  this  army,  for  only  intelligent  men  can  be 
admitted  to  it;  men  who,  like  the  firemen,  are  clear  of 
brain,  strong  in  body,  and  true  at  heart.  The  Com- 
missioner of  Police  is  the  commander  of  this  splendid 
army,  and  there  are  inspectors,  and  captains,  and  other 
officers  to  see  that  his  orders  are  carried  out.  The 
soldiers  in  this  army  are  called  policemen,  or,  more 
properly,  patrolmen.  They  wear  a  dark  blue  uniform 
with  brass  buttons,  and  a  shield  of  office  is  pinned  on 
the  breast.  It  is  a  uniform  to  be  proud  of,  and  orderly 
persons  respect  and  obey  the  man  who  wears  it,  be- 
cause, while  wearing  it,  he  represents  the  law. 

Every  policeman  is  carefully  drilled  in  the  duties  he 
may  be  called  upon  to  perform  at  any  moment.  These 
duties  are  to  enforce  the  law;  to  lend  help  in  case  of 
accident;  and  to  protect  the  people  and  their  property 
from  every  kind  of  danger  at  all  times.  In  doing  his 
duty  the  policeman  often  exposes  himself  to  risks  quite 
as  sudden  and  terrible  as  those  the  fireman  must  face, 


58  THE    POLICE    DEPARTMENT 

but  not  one  policeman  in  many  thousand  ever  shows 
cowardice  at  such  a  time. 

To  simplify  its  police  work,  the  city  is  divided  into  in- 
spection districts,  which  are  subdivided  into  "precincts." 
These  precincts  lie  one  next  to  another,  so  that  every 


In  a  Station  House 

foot  of  the  city  is  included  in  some  precinct.  Some  pre- 
cincts are  larger  than  others,  but  each  has  its  own  station 
house  and  its  own  company  of  men.  Each  precinct  is, 
in  turn,  divided  into  sections  of  blocks  called  "posts," 
each  post  meeting  the  next  one.  In  crowded  neigh- 
borhoods the  posts  are  much  shorter  than  in  peaceful 
and  quiet  sections.  The  beat  is  patrolled  night  and  day 


THE   POLICE   DEPARTMENT  59 

by  policemen  who  take  charge  of  it  in  regular  order, 
one  relieving  another.  While  on  post  duty,  the  police- 
man is  ever  on  the  watch  for  signs  of  fire  as  well  as  of 
disorder,  accident,  or  crime. 

Grown-up  citizens  respect  the  policeman  and  obey 
him,  because  he  represents  the  law.  Many  boys,  on 
the  other  hand,  are  foolish  enough  to  dislike  him  be- 
cause he  forbids  them  to  play  ball,  throw  stones,  or 
build  bonfires  in  the  streets,  and  because  he  puts  a  stop 
to  their  fights  even  when  these  are  perfectly  fair.  They 
do  not  consider  that  he  cannot  permit  such  things  be- 
cause they  are  forbidden  by  law.  They  forget  that  his 
duty  is  to  protect  people  from  harm,  and  that  what 
seems  fun  to  the  boys  may  prove  dangerous  to  others, 
and  must,  therefore,  be  stopped. 

Not  long  ago  a  sweet  little  girl  was  trampled  upon  by 
a  runaway  horse  and  was  very  badly  hurt.  The  animal 
had  been  standing  quiet  enough,  when  he  was  sud- 
denly struck  in  the  face  by  a  sharp  bit  of  wood.  It 
was  only  a  "cat"  which  a  boy,  with  one  swift  stroke 
of  his  stick,  had  sent  flying  across  the  street;  but  it 
frightened  the  horse  and  sent  him  dashing  blindly  down 
the  road.  Before  he  could  be  stopped  the  wagon  he 
was  drawing  was  smashed,  and  a  little  girl  was  thrown 
down  and  trampled  upon.  Does  any  one  of  you  think 
fun  which  can  have  so  sad  a  result,  a  fair  sort  of  fun  ? 

Fortunately  such  accidents  do  not  always  follow  what 


60  THE   POLICE   DEPARTMENT 

we  may  call  "one- sided  fun,"  but  that  does  not  make 
it  right  to  knock  a  "cat,"  or  to  throw  a  stone,  or  to  pitch 
a  swift  ball  where  it  may  break  a  window  or  strike  a 
passer-by.  Would  it  help  the  injured  person  to  know 
that  the  "cat,"  or  the  ball,  or  the  stone  was  not  aimed 
at  him  ? 

The  law  forbids  fights  for  equally  good  reasons. 
Fighting  may  hurt  one  or  both  fighters,  and  it  draws  a 
crowd  which  leads  in  turn  to  further  disorder.  Is  it 
fair,  do  you  think,  to  blame  the  policeman  who  stops 
your  fighting,  just  as  he  stops  any  one  else  from  break- 
ing other  laws  ?  It  is  his  duty  to  do  so,  and  he  deserves 
credit  and  respect  for  it,  rather  than  dislike.  Some  day, 
perhaps,  the  boys  who  now  believe  the  policeman  to  be 
their  worst  enemy,  may  learn  that  he  is  their  best  friend. 
A  friend,  you  know,  is  one  to  whom  you  can  turn  for 
help  when  you  need  it.  No  man  stands  more  ready  to 
lend  help  than  does  the  policeman,  and  every  citizen, 
young  or  old,  has  the  right  to  ask  him  for  such  help  at 
any  hour. 

The  policeman,  better  than  any  one  else,  knows  what 
to  do  when  trouble  arises,  and  he  does  it  without  de- 
lay. He  takes  charge  of  lost  children,  and  sees  that 
they  are  well  cared  for  until  returned  to  their  parents. 
He  helps  people,  and  also  animals,  that  have  been  hurt 
in  an  accident,  and  sends  for  the  right  persons  to  give 
further  help,  if  he  cannot  do  all  that  may  be  necessary. 


THE    POLICE    DEPARTMENT  6 1 

He  looks  after  persons  found  in  need  of  food  or  of  shel- 
ter, taken  ill  in  the  street,  or  made  helpless  or  disorderly 
by  liquor.  He  has  been  taught  to  give  "  first  aid."  This 
means  that  he  knows  what  it  is  best  to  do  for  a  sufferer, 
before  the  arrival  of  the  ambulance  doctor  whom  he 
sends  for  when  needed.  Using  first-aid  knowledge,  he 
can  often  stop  serious  bleeding,  and  also  restore  people 
overcome  by  gas  or  smoke.  He  can  ease  the  pain  caused 
by  a  burn,  lessen  the  ill  effects  of  poison,  and  help  per- 
sons who  have  had  bones  broken  to  rest  more  com- 
fortably. The  policeman  can  do  all  this  and  is  always 
ready  to  do  it.  Can  you  expect  more  than  this  of  your 
nearest  friend  ? 

No  one  hesitates  to  appeal  to  a  warm  friend  for  help, 
and  no  one,  man  or  child,  need  ever  hesitate  to  appeal 
to  the  police  for  help  in  time  of  danger  or  trouble.  The 
officer  you  ask  will  himself  help  you  if  he  can ;  if  unable 
to  do  so  he  will  direct  you  where  to  find  the  sort  of  help 
you  need.  If  you  have  lost  your  way,  the  officer  will 
tell  you  how  to  reach  the  place  you  are  looking  for.  If 
you  are  homeless  and  have  no  money  to  pay  for  a  lodg- 
ing, he  will  tell  you  where  you  can  sleep,  free  of  charge, 
for  the  night.  If  you  are  starving,  he  will  see  that  you 
are  fed,  even  though  he  and  his  brother  officers  have 
to  pay  for  the  food  out  of  their  own  money.  If  he  sees 
that  you  are  ill,  he  will  call  an  ambulance  and  send  you 
to  the  hospital.  If  you  find  yourself  in  danger,  he  will 


62  THE    POLICE    DEPARTMENT 

guide  you  to  safety.  If  you  see  others  in  danger  and 
tell  the  nearest  policeman,  he  will  instantly  put  out  a 
helping  hand  and  rescue  them. 

Only  a  short  time  ago  some  boys  were  building  a 
large  snow  house,  pretending  they  were  Eskimos.  The 
youngest  of  them  had  crawled  through  the  low  door- 
way to  smooth  the  walls  from  within.  Suddenly  the 
house  caved  in,  and  the  little  worker  inside  was  buried 
under  great  blocks  of  snow.  His  comrades  worked 
wildly  with  their  shovels,  but  they  made  little  headway. 
One,  wiser  than  the  rest,  dropped  his  shovel  and  ran 
for  the  nearest  policeman.  Breathless,  he  told  him  what 
had  happened.  The  officer,  glancing  about  for  help, 
saw  a  group  of  street  cleaners  at  work  near  by.  Calling 
to  them  to  bring  their  shovels  and  follow,  he  hurried 
them  to  the  fallen  snow  house.  A  few  moments  of 
quick  shoveling  uncovered  the  boy,  who  was  then  un- 
conscious. Using  first-aid  knowledge,  the  officer  soon 
restored  the  lad,  whose  life  was  saved  not  by  any  deed 
of  heroism,  but  through  the  officer's  quick  and  intelli- 
gent response  to  the  young  citizen's  appeal  for  help* 


CHAPTER  VIII 

HOW   THE   POLICE   KEEP   ORDER   IN   THE   CITY 

Who  can  explain  briefly  what  keeping  order  in  a  big 
city  means? 

If  I  were  to  ask  you  what  keeping  order  in  your  home 
means,  one  of  you  would  very  likely  reply,  "Behaving," 
and  another,  "Not  quarreling."  Some  dear  little  girl, 
I  am  sure,  would  chime  in  with  "Keeping  things  clean." 
If  I  were  to  ask  you  what  keeping  order  in  your  school 
means,  you  might  tell  me,  "Doing  one's  work  well," 
"Obeying  the  rules,"  "Letting  others  alone."  These 
are  the  correct  answers,  and  they  are  equally  correct 
when  telling  how  order  should  be  kept  in  a  large  city. 

"Behaving"  and  "Not  quarreling"  are  quite  as  much 
the  duties  of  grown-up  people  as  of  children.  Rough 
conduct  and  fighting,  whether  with  words  or  with  blows, 
interfere  with  the  peace  of  others.  They  can  easily 
cause  serious  trouble  where  many  people  are  crowded 
close  together,  as  in  a  city  street. 

"Keeping  things  clean"  is,  as  all  of  us  know,  nec- 
essary in  the  home ;  it  is  even  more  necessary  to  keep  the 
city  clean.  Just  imagine  what  the  streets  would  look 
like  if  untidy  persons  were  permitted  to  throw  their 

63 


64  THE   POLICE   DEPARTMENT 

sweepings,  garbage,  ashes,  or  scrub  water  upon  the 
sidewalks  and  pavements!  It  would  be  unpleasant 
enough  if  only  one  person,  here  or  there,  did  that  sort 
of  thing.  Think  what  it  would  be  if  hundreds  did  it! 
We  should  have  to  live  in  streets  reeking  with  sickening 
odors;  clouds  of  dust  would  be  blown  about  by  the 
wind;  our  eyes  and  throats  would  trouble  us,  and  there 
would  be  much  illness.  To  prevent  such  a  state  of 
affairs,  the  police  are  on  the  alert  for  those  who  mis- 
behave in  this  way.  The  police  do  not  clean  the  city, 
but  they  do  all  they  can  to  keep  it  clean,  by  arresting 
those  who  willfully  cause  it  to  be  dirty. 

"Obeying  the  rules"  is  important  everywhere  and  all 
the  time.  " Doing  one's  work  well"  and  "  Letting  others 
alone"  are  habits  which  make  good  and  orderly  citizens, 
exactly  as  they  make  good  and  orderly  pupils.  It  is 
plain  to  see  that  a  great  city  would  be  a  disagreeable 
place  in  which  to  live,  if  its  people  were  to  break  laws 
when  they  feel  like  it,  or  to  neglect  their  own  work,  or 
to  interfere  with  that  of  their  neighbors.  When  such 
things  do  not  occur  in  a  city,  it  shows  that  the  police 
do  their  duty  and  enforce  the  laws  made  to  prevent 
disorders  of  these  kinds. 

Some  of  you  think  the  policeman  has  an  easy  task, 
because  you  have  never  seen  him  do  more  than  help 
people  across  the  street,  take  a  disorderly  person  to  the 
station  house,  or  put  out  a  bonfire  lest  its  sparks  start 


HOW  THE  POLICE  KEEP  ORDER 


A  Mounted  Policeman 


a  fire  elsewhere.  You  may  even  think  him  idle,  having 
so  often  seen  him  standing  at  the  corner  watching  the 
boys  play  marbles  or  fly  kites. 
Very  likely  he  is  idle;  he  may 
even  be  far  back  in  his  boy- 
hood, thinking  of  the  time 
when  he  could  shoot  a  marble 
straighter  and  fly  a  kite  higher 
than  any  other  boy  he  knew. 
But  let  any  one  break  the  law 
within  his  sight  or  hearing; 
let  an  accident  of  any  kind 
occur,  a  cry  for  help  ring  out, 
or  a  fire  alarm  be  sent  in,  and 

he  will  hurry  to  the  spot,  ready  to  do  the  right  thing  in 
the  right  way. 

Policemen  must  always  be  on  the  alert  for  disorder, 
because  the  Police  Department,  like  the  Fire  Depart- 
ment, knows  the  value  of  the  ounce  of  prevention,  and 
makes  constant  use  of  it.  That  is  why  you  always  find 
policemen  standing  along  the  line  of  a  procession,  and 
in  all  other  places  where  large  numbers  of  people  come 
together.  That  is  the  reason,  also,  why  the  police  al- 
ways investigate  the  cause  of  a  crowd. 

A  crowd  may  be  perfectly  harmless;  but  it  may  also 
mean  that  something  is  wrong,  and  it  is  the  policeman's 
duty  to  find  out.  A  crowd  gathers  very  quickly  in  a 

Citizenship — 5 


66  THE   POLICE   DEPARTMENT 

big  city,  and  grows  larger  every  moment..  Passers-by 
join  it,  and  others  come  running  from  a  distance, 
curious  to  learn  what  unusual  thing  has  happened. 
Very  soon  the  crowd  blocks  the  sidewalk,  and  people 
who  wish  to  pass  are  delayed  needlessly.  Thieves  are 
attracted,  and  they  find  it  easy  to  steal  watches  and 
purses  from  the  bystanders.  This  makes  it  clear,  why 
the  policeman  always  tries  to  break  up  a  crowd  and 
to  make  the  people  in  it  "move  on/'  as  he  calls  it. 

If  an  accident  or  other  mishap  should  have  drawn  the 
crowd,  the  officer  does  what  he  can  to  set  things  right. 
He  may  possibly  need  help.  If  his  signal  fails  to  bring 
a  second  officer  immediately,  or  the  ambulance  if  he  has 
sent  for  it,  the  policeman  has  the  right  to  ask  help  of  the 
persons  about;  and  they  must  not  refuse  to  give  such 
help.  Very  often  the  trouble  is  something  easily  righted 
by  the  use  of  plain  common  sense.  Somehow,  when  ac- 
cidents happen,  the  policeman  often  seems  to  be  the 
only  one  about  who  shows  common  sense.  The  follow- 
ing story  is  a  good  illustration  of  this: 

One  day  a  horse  stepped  into  the  end  of  a  deep  trench 
in  the  street,  which  had  not  been  properly  protected. 
Some  one  had  been  careless,  and  some  one  else  had  to 
suffer  for  it,  as  is  often  the  case.  The  wagon  was  too 
wide  to  fall  into  the  trench,  and  the  terrified  horse  hung 
between  the  shafts,  kicking  and  plunging  wildly  as  over 
and  over  again  he  tried  to  get  a  foothold.  A  crowd 


HOW  THE  POLICE  KEEP  ORDER  67 

formed,  as  crowds  will,  and  it  grew  so  fast  that  the  street 
was  soon  blocked  with  trucks  unable  to  drive  past. 
The  men  laughed  at  the  unlucky  driver  and  gave  him 
plenty  of  impossible  advice,  but  no  one  lent  a  hand 
to  help.  Presently  a  policeman  came  up,  shouldering 
his  way  through  the  crowd.  As  soon  as  he  saw  what 
was  wrong  he  whipped  out  his  knife,  cut  the  harness, 
and  backed  the  wagon  away.  The  horse  sank  deeper 
into  the  trench,  of  course,  but  as  he  landed  on  his  feet, 
he  stopped  kicking. 

How  to  get  him  out  was  the  next  problem.  The 
policeman  looked  about  and  saw  that  one  of  the  de- 
layed trucks  was  loaded  with  lumber.  Borrowing  some 
planks,  and  ordering  the  bystanders  to  help,  he  soon 
rigged  up  a  rude  but  strong  walk  slanting  up  in  front  of 
the  horse,  from  the  bottom  of  the  trench  to  the  top. 
The  horse  was  then  led  up  the  walk  and  put  back  into 
the  driver's  charge.  The  crowd  melted  away  as  quickly 
as  it  had  formed,  and  the  affair  was  over.  What  the  po- 
liceman did  was  surely  simple  enough,  but  why  had  no 
one  else  thought  of  doing  it  ? 

Ordinary  policemen  are  expected  to  quell  ordinary  dis- 
order, and  to  give  help  and  protection  under  ordinary 
circumstances.  Special  policemen,  it  has  been  found, 
are  needed  in  all  large  cities  for  special  work.  In  New 
York,  for  example,  there  are  several  kinds  of  special 
policemen.  There  is  a  Traffic  Squad,  whose  duty  it  is 


68  THE    POLICE    DEPARTMENT 

to  manage  the  moving  of  vehicles  through  the  city 
streets.    Some  of  its  men  are  mounted  on  horses,  others 

do  their  work  afoot.  You  will 
know  the  members  of  the 
Traffic  Squad  by  the  horse's 
head  within  a  wheel  embroid- 
ered on  the  sleeve  of  their 
uniform.  The  Bicycle  Police 
have  swift  bicycles  to  help 
them  in  their  special  duty, 

Traffic  Squad  Badge  .  .   ,  , 

which  is    to    catch   runaway 

horses,  and  to  stop  the  men  who  drive  horses  or  au- 
tomobiles faster  than  the  law 
allows,  or  who  try  to  escape 
after  having  caused  an  acci- 
dent. The  men  of  the  Health 
Squad  assist  the  Department 
of  Health  in  its  work  of  guard- 
ing the  city  from  disease. 
Their  special  badge  is  a  red 
cross  on  a  green  field,  sewn  to 
the  sleeve.  The  Boiler  Squad 
men  must  inspect  the  boilers 
in  large  buildings,  factories,  or 
steamboats,  to  see  that  they  Harbor  Squad  Badge 
are  perfectly  safe.  The  men  of  the  Harbor  Squad 
patrol  the  water  front,  usually  in  boats,  watching  for 


HOW   THE   POLICE   KEEP   ORDER  69 

river  thieves,  lending  aid  in  wrecks  and  accidents,  rescu- 
ing those  who  fall  overboard,  and  arresting  sailors  who 
misbehave.  The  men  of  the  Detective  Squad  are  kept 
busy  looking  for  wrongdoers  who  try  to  escape  the  pun- 
ishment they  deserve.  The  plain-clothes  men  (police 
officers  dressed  in  ordinary  clothing)  go  about  the  city 
hearing  and  seeing  many  things  carefully  hidden  from 
the  policemen  in  uniform.  The  news  these  plain-clothes 
men  gather  and  report  to  headquarters,  provides  many 
an  ounce  of  prevention  which  the  Police  Department 
is  glad  to  use  in  its  constant  fight  against  disorder  and 
crime. 


CHAPTER  IX 

HOW  THE  POLICE  DEPARTMENT  FIGHTS  CRIME 

Crime  is  an  ugly  word,  and  it  stands  for  ugly  deeds. 
Disorder  is  bad  enough  to  contend  with,  but  crime  is 
far  worse.  We  have  seen  that  the  policeman's  duty  is 
to  watch  for  disorder  and  to  put  a  stop  to  it  wherever 
it  arises.  It  is  also  his  duty  to  prevent  crime  and  to 
bring  criminals  to  punishment.  Men  commit  crime 
because  of  anger,  envy,  or  greed;  but  they  are  gen- 
erally very  careful  not  to  do  it  when  the  policeman  is 
in  sight.  This  is  why  it  is  hard  for  the  Police  Depart- 
ment to  prevent  crime  altogether;  still,  care  and  watch- 
fulness on  the  part  of  its  officers  can  prevent  a  great 
deal  of  crime  which  the  wicked  and  cowardly  would 
otherwise  commit.  When,  despite  their  care  and  watch- 
fulness, a  crime  occurs,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  police  to 
find  the  guilty  person  and  arrest  him. 

The  law  punishes  those  who  are  found  guilty  of 
crime,  by  shutting  them  up  in  prison.  No  one  wants 
to  go  to  prison,  you  may  be  sure;  so  criminals  try  to 
hide  themselves,  as  well  as  their  crimes,  from  the  police. 
This  makes  the  detection  of  criminals  and  of  hidden 

crime  a  hard  task.     The  men  who  show  themselves 

70 


HOW    THE    POLICE    FIGHT    CRIME 


specially  clever  in  this  sort  of  police  work  are  made  de- 
tectives. It  is  part  of  their  duty  to  become  familiar  with 
the  habits  of  criminals  and  with  their  manner  of  life. 
This  would  be 
impossible,  o  f 
course,  if  they 
were  recognized 
a  s  policemen. 
Therefore  they 
dress  like  ordi- 
nary citizens,  and 
do  not  display 
their  shields  ex- 
cept when  mak- 
ing an  arrest. 

When  a  crime 
has  been  com- 
mitted the  detect- 
ives are  ordered 
to  find  out  who 
did  the  deed,  and 
to  discover  the 


The  Tombs  (City  Prison),  New  York 


hiding  place  of  the  evil-doer  and  then  arrest  him. 
Sometimes  they  succeed  promptly  and  bring  the  crimi- 
nal to  trial.  In  other  cases  it  takes  longer  and  may  re- 
quire skillful  work.  Again,  with  all  their  care,  they 
sometimes  make  a  mistake  and  arrest  a  man  who  is 


72  THE    POLICE    DEPARTMENT 

innocent  of  the  crime.  This  is  unfortunate  for  the  in- 
nocent man,  and  most  unpleasant.  The  wisest  thing 
for  the  man  to  do  in  such  a  case,  is  to  submit  quietly 
to  the  arrest,  and  go  with  the  officer  to  the  station  house. 
Very  likely  he  can  clear  himself  while  there;  if  not,  he 
must  wait  patiently  until  at  the  right  time  and  place 
he  can  prove  his  innocence. 

Detectives  must  be  courageous  men,  quick  to  think 
and  quick  to  act,  if  need  be.  They  are  continually  in 
danger,  when  off  duty  as  well  as  when  on  it;  for  the  men 
with  whom  they  have  to  deal,  and  whom  they  seek  to 
arrest,  do  not  hesitate  to  do  desperate  deeds. 

Robbery,  in  one  form  or  another,  is  the  most  frequent 
crime  and  the  one  that  good  police  work  can  largely 
prevent.  Every  policeman  must  be  always  on  the  watch 
for  it.  When  patrolling  his  post  at  night,  the  police- 
man tries  every  front  door,  and  glances  sharply  at  cellar 
and  street-floor  windows.  Should  he  find  one  of  them 
open,  he  knows  it  means  one  of  two  things.  Either  the 
person  who  should  have  locked  it  has  been  careless, 
or  else  a  thief  is  at  work  inside.  It  is  the  officer's  duty 
to  search  carefully,  and  if  he  finds  neither  a  thief  nor 
any  signs  of  robbery,  he  fastens  the  window  himself, 
if  he  can,  or  else  he  notifies  the  owner  to  do  so. 

As  he  marches  back  and  forth  over  his  post  he  keeps 
his  eyes  open  for  people  who  act  in  a  suspicious  man- 
ner. Men  who  carry  odd-shaped  bundles  after  night- 


HOW   THE   POLICE    FIGHT   CRIME  73 

fall  are  politely  asked  to  explain  what  is  in  them.  No 
honest  man  should  refuse  to  answer,  or  to  show  what 
he  is  carrying  at  such  an  hour.  He  knows  the  police- 
man has  the  right  to  ask,  and  that  in  doing  so  he  is 
protecting  the  citizens.  The  man  who  pretends  to  be 
insulted  at  the  question,  or  who  fails  to  give  a  satis- 
factory account  of  himself,  is  naturally  looked  upon  as 
a  " suspicious  character;"  and  the  officer  has  the  right 
to  arrest  him  and  to  take  him  to  the  station  house. 
Very  often  the  suspicious  bundle,  when  examined, 
proves  to  contain  stolen  goods,  and  the  man  carrying  it 
is  either  the  thief  himself,  or  his  partner  in  crime. 

Men  who  loiter  in  dark  places  late  at  night  are  likely 
to  be  watched  by  the  policeman.  They  may  be  bur- 
glars awaiting  the  chance  to  break  into  a  house  unseen, 
or  the  friends  of  burglars  already  at  work.  If  so,  they 
are  wicked  men  and  likely  to  attack  the  policeman 
should  he  come  too  near.  The  officer  who  attempts  to 
interfere  with  men  of  this  class  knows  that  he  does  so 
at  the  risk  of  his  life.  But  this  never  stops  him,  for 
whatever  faults  the  policemen  may  have,  they  are  not 
cowards.  Indeed,  the  list  is  long  and  honorable  of 
men  who,  single-handed,  have  fought  two  or  three  such 
ruffians  and  brought  them  to  the  station  house. 

Another  duty  no  policeman  ever  hesitates  in  per- 
forming, is  to  lend  help  when  a  citizen  or  his  property 
is  attacked.  When  the  attack  is  made  by  one  or  two 


74  THE    POLICE    DEPARTMENT 

persons  the  officer  is  usually  able  to  end  it,  and  to  arrest 
the  offenders.  When  the  attack  is  made  by  an  angry 
mob,  the  policeman  often  has  all  he  can  do  to  save  the 
citizen  from  being  beaten  or  killed. 

The  mob,  for  instance,  may  be  wildly  excited  because 
a  little  child  has  been  run  over  by  a  careless  motorman. 
Whether  the  man  was  really  at  fault  or  whether  he  was 


"  It  is  his  first  duty  to  protect  that  citizen  " 

innocent  of  blame,  does  not  concern  the  policeman.  All 
he  sees  is  the  fact  that  a  citizen  is  being  attacked.  It  is 
his  first  duty  to  protect  that  citizen,  and  he  leaps  in- 
stantly to  his  side.  Fighting  off  those  of  the  angry  mob 
who  come  too  near,  pushing  this  way  and  that  to  get  his 
man  away,  using  his  club  if  necessary,  and  all  the  while 


HOW   THE   POLICE   FIGHT   CRIME  7S 

holding  to  the  man  like  a  boy  to  a  football,  he  exerts 
every  effort  to  save  him.  The  blows  may  fall  thick  and 
heavy  upon  his  own  person,  and  his  uniform  may  be 
torn  to  rags  in  the  struggle ;  but  this  he  takes  as  part  of 
his  regular  day's  work.  In  his  heart  he  may  side  with 
the  mob,  and  his  own  blood  may  boil  at  the  sight  of  the 
poor  little  injured  child.  But  it  is  his  duty  to  bring  the 
man  in  safety  to  the  station  house,  so  that  he  may  be 
placed  on  trial  in  the  proper  place  and  punished  ac- 
cording to  the  law,  if  he  deserves  punishment. 

Acts  of  violence  and  crime  occur  far  too  often  when 
workmen  are  "on  strike,"  and  do  what  they  can  to 
prevent  other  men  from  taking  their  places.  It  is  the 
duty  of  the  police  to  protect  these  men  from  any  un- 
lawful attack.  The  policeman's  own  feelings  may  be 
with  the  strikers;  his  own  brothers  or  sons  may  be  of 
their  number.  But  he  is  a  soldier  in  an  army  sworn  to 
obey  orders  and  to  enforce  the  laws.  He  knows  that 
his  duty  is  to  protect  the  men  attacked,  and  he  does  it 
fearlessly,  despite  wounds,  and  despite  jeers  and  hoot- 
ing which  hurt  him  more  than  any  bodily  wound. 

When  large  mobs  of  men  gather  and  fight  in  the 
streets,  one  or  even  a  dozen  policemen  are  helpless  to 
restore  order.  A  disturbance  so  serious  is  called  a 
riot,  and  the  police  reserves  are  ordered  out  to  quell 
it.  The  military  training  which  the  policemen  undergo 
when  joining  the  force,  now  serves  them  in  good  stead. 


76 


THE    POLICE    DEPARTMENT 


Like  soldiers  they  charge  upon  the  mob  and  force  it 
to  disperse. 

The  city  of  New  York  has  known  some  serious  riots, 
and  in  each  case  its  police  force  has  fought  in  the  cause 
of  peace  and  order  as  bravely  as  any  body  of  soldiers. 
Many  good  and  true  men  have  fallen  in  the  battle, 
and  their  names  reflect  honor  upon  the  whole  force. 
As  a  token  of  confidence  in  their  blue-coated  guard- 
ians, and  in  memory  of  these  brave  men,  the  citizens 
of  New  York  presented  to  the  Police  Department  a  fine 
banner,  suitably  inscribed.  The  men  are  very  proud 
of  this  banner,  and  it  would  go  hard  with  the  policeman 
who  knowingly  ever  disgraces  it. 


CHAPTER  X 

AN  AFTERNOON  WITH  THE  POLICE 

If  we  could  be  with  a  policeman  for  a  day  and  a 
night,  we  might  find  it  fully  as  interesting  as  our  visit 
to  the  fire-engine  house,  or  to  the  tenement-house  fire. 
We  can  manage  it,  if  we  use  our  make-believe  caps. 
But  it  would  be  better,  I  think,  to  visit  different  police- 
men at  different  times.  It  would  be  a  good  plan  to 
imitate  the  birds  who,  as  they  fly  here  and  there,  swiftly 
drop  to  earth  whenever  their  bright  eyes  discover  any- 
thing which  seems  worth  their  while.  Our  magic  caps 
will  let  us  do  this  if  we  doff  them  often  enough,  and  re- 
member to  make  the  right  wish  each  time  we  put  them 
back  upon  our  heads. 

Suppose,  then,  you  meet  me  this  afternoon  at  three, 
at  the  school  door,  bringing  your  wonderful  caps  with 
you.  Before  donning  them,  we  might  spend  a  few  min- 
utes watching  the  policeman  who  stands  at  the  cross- 
ing. He  is  there  in  rain  or  shine,  every  day  when  a 
school  session  begins  and  when  it  closes.  See  how 
kind  he  is  to  the  youngest  children,  and  how  he  bends 
down  to  lead  the  more  timid  ones  by  the  hand.  He  is 
not  so  gentle  with  boys  and  girls  who  think  themselves 

77 


78 


THE    POLICE    DEPARTMENT 


too  big  to  await  his  permission  to  cross;  and  I  must  ad- 
mit that  he  is  pretty  sharp  with  drivers  who  try  to  rush 
by  while  the  children  are  crossing  the  street. 

Always  on  the  watch  for  possible  danger  to  the  hun- 
dreds of  little  ones  in  his  charge,  our  policeman  is  busy 
enough;  but  his  work  is  child's  play  compared  with 


"  Our  policeman  is  busy  enough  " 

that  of  the  men  stationed  at  such  crossings  as  Thirty- 
fourth  Street  and  Broadway,  or  Forty-second  Street  and 
Fifth  Avenue,  in  crowded  New  York.  The  Police  De- 
partment puts  crossings  like  these  under  the  special 
care  of  the  Traffic  Squad.  Some  of  the  officers  are  afoot 
and  others  are  mounted  on  horseback.  The  mounted 
men  are  very  proud  of  their  horses,  and,  like  the  fire- 
men, could  tell  many  a  tale  of  their  helpfulness  at  the 


AN  AFTERNOON  WITH  THE  POLICE  79 

right  moment.  Perhaps,  before  we  are  through  visiting 
the  policemen,  we  may  see  for  ourselves  some  heroic 
deeds  done  by  horses. 

Meanwhile,  let  us  put  on  our  caps  and  wish  ourselves 
on  the  steps  of  a  building  at  the  corner  of  Forty-second 
Street  and  Fifth  Avenue.  Are  we  all  here  ?  Then  let 
us  glance  up  the  avenue  first  and  then  down,  at  the  hun- 
dreds of  vehicles  moving  forward  in  twin  streams.  One 
of  the  streams  is  headed  northward,  the  other  toward 
the  south,  and  both  keep  to  the  right-hand  side  of  the 
street  as  they  go.  This  is  in  obedience  to  the  rules  for 
drivers  laid  down  by  the  Traffic  Squad.  Any  driver 
stupid  or  careless  enough  to  drive  along  the  left-hand 
side  of  the  street,  will  straightway  find  himself  turned 
about  and  ordered  back,  in  no  gentle  manner,  to  where 
he  came  from,  lucky  indeed  if  he  escapes  arrest  and 
punishment. 

Watching  the  unceasing  stream  of  wagons  and  trucks, 
carriages  and  automobiles,  we  can  readily  see  how  well 
it  works,  this  simple  rule  of  keeping  always  to  the  right, 
no  matter  in  which  direction  you  go;  and  we  can  un- 
derstand how  it  prevents  accidents  and  collisions,  and 
an  immense  amount  of  disorder  and  confusion.  You 
children  observe  exactly  the  same  rule  in  school,  and 
for  exactly  the  same  reason,  when  you  keep  to  the  right 
in  passing  through  the  halls  and  up  and  down  stairs. 

Listen!  did  you  notice  that  sharp  whistle? 


8o 


THE    POLICE    DEPARTMENT 


It  is  a  police  signal  and  it  works  like  magic.  See  how 
its  shrill  call  has  halted  every  driver  in  the  two  pro- 
cessions making  their  way  north  and  south  toward 
Forty-second  Street.  Each  vehicle  is  standing  motion- 
less just  where  it  was  when  the  traffic  policeman  blew 
the  whistle.  See  how  it  has  cleared  the  crossings,  and 
left  them  entirely  empty.  This  gives  the  drivers  who 


"  They  waste  no  time  in  starting,  you  see  " 

have  been  patiently  waiting  in  the  side  streets,  a  chance 
to  proceed  on  their  way  east  or  west  through  Forty- 
second  Street.  They  waste  no  time  in  starting,  you  see, 
for  they  know  their  lines  will  be  stopped  again  very 
soon  to  allow  another  turn  for  those  going  up  or  down 
the  avenue. 
Turn  your  eyes  now  to  the  policeman  in  the  very 


AN  AFTERNOON  WITH  THE  POLICE        1 

center  of  the  square  bounded  by  the  four  crossings. 
When  he  lifts  his  hand,  every  driver  in  the  moving  line 
pulls  up  and  lifts  his  own  hand,  or  his  whip,  to  stop  the 
man  behind.  There  goes  the  whistle  again!  It  tells 
the  drivers  who  have  been  halted  on  the  avenue  that 
they  may  now  continue  on  their  way.  On  they  go, 
steadily  passing  by,  until  the  policeman's  lifted  hand, 
and  the  piercing  call  of  the  whistle,  signal  that  those 
passing  through  Forty-second  Street  again  have  the 
right  of  way. 

It  is  a  busy  hour,  and  not  one  of  all  that  long  stream 
of  drivers  likes  to  halt;  but  the  traffic  officer's  uplifted 
hand  means  "halt,"  and  none  dares  disobey.  Do  not 
think  for  a  moment  that  those  big,  burly  drivers  obey 
because  they  are  afraid  of  the  policeman  himself,  or 
even  of  the  loaded  revolver  he  carries  in  his  pocket. 
They  are  not  of  that  sort.  Besides,  how  could  they 
be  afraid  of  the  man  when  they  outnumber  him  a 
hundred  to  one  ?  It  is  the  uniform  which  compels  their 
obedience,  not  the  man  inside  of  it.  The  uniform 
shows  that  its  wearer  represents  the  law,  which  every 
one  must  obey  or  take  the  consequences. 

Ah!  the  whistle  again,  and  all  changes  as  before.  No, 
not  as  before,  for  look!  The  officer's  uplifted  hand  is 
suddenly  flung  higher,  and  in  the  bend  of  his  arm  he 
holds  a  little  child!  Did  any  of  you  see  how  it  came 
there?  No? 

Citizenship — 6 


82  THE    POLICE    DEPARTMENT 

Well,  I  did;  and  I  shall  tell  you  about  it  in  a  moment. 
First,  however,  notice  how  the  officer's  brown  horse  is 
turned  sidewise  against  that  big  black  team,  and  how  his 
head  tosses  in  excitement.  Next,  take  a  look  at  the 
white-faced  woman  in  the  thick  of  it  all,  stretching  out 
her  arms  for  the  child,  and  all  unmindful  of  the  plun- 
ging horses  and  the  impatient  drivers.  Watch  the 
officer,  also,  as  he  motions  her  back  to  the  sidewalk 
before  he  hands  over  the  child,  and  blows  his  whistle  at 
the  same  time  in  order  not  to  delay  the  traffic  further. 

When  that  whistle  last  sounded,  I  saw  the  child  slip 
from  its  mother  and  try  to  cross  the  street.  Luckily 
the  policeman  saw  it  also,  and  so  did  his  horse.  Quick 
as  a  flash,  the  well-trained  animal  threw  himself  side- 
wise  against  the  first  of  the  oncoming  teams,  while  the 
policeman,  bending  low  over  his  saddle,  caught  the 
child  up  almost  from  under  the  lifted  hoofs.  Together, 
man  and  horse  had  saved  the  little  one's  life,  and  the 
moment  the  child  was  handed  back  safe  and  sound  to 
its  careless  mother,  both  heroes  returned  to  their  duty, 
quite  as  if  they  had  done  nothing  unusual. 

It  is  nearing  five  o'clock.  At  this  hour  the  traffic  is 
very  heavy  along  the  water  front  where  the  big  drays 
load  up  with  boxes  and  barrels  from  the  wharves,  before 
making  their  way  across  the  city  to  deliver  their  loads 
where  they  belong.  Let  us  wish  ourselves  over  in  West 
Street,  where 'the  traffic  is  thickest,  and  stand  where  we 


AN  AFTERNOON  WITH  THE  POLICE       83 

can  watch  it.  Are  you  all  quite  ready  ?  Then  off  with 
your  caps,  and  on  with  them  again,  making  your  wish 
when  I  give  the  word.  One,  two,  three,  Wish! 

Ugh!  how  much  smoke  there  is  in  the  air!  There 
must  be  a  fire  down  here  somewhere.  A  fire  ?  I  should 
think  so!  A  big  coffee  warehouse  is  burning,  and,  as 
the  building  covers  a  whole  square,  a  large  number  of 
companies  have  been  called  out  to  fight  the  fire.  Long 
lines  of  hose  are  stretched  along  the  cross  streets  which 
lead  into  West  Street,  for  the  firemen  need  all  the  water 
they  can  get.  The  police  have  drawn  the  fire  lines  across 
these  streets  so  that  the  firemen  can  do  their  work  un- 
hindered. This  cuts  off  traffic  from  the  cross  streets, 
and  the  hundreds  of  drays  and  trucks  which  were  to  be 
driven  through  them  stand  helpless  in  West  Street, 
unable  to  move  either  forward  or  back. 

Look  at  them  wedged  into  a  frightful  mass,  made 
worse  as  each  incoming  ferryboat  brings  a  long  line  of 
other  teams  and  trucks.  Did  you  ever  see  such  a  tangle  ? 
Drivers,  vainly  trying  to  get  out  of  the  jam,  are  standing 
in  their  seats,  shouting  angrily  at  their  horses,  at  the 
other  drivers  crowding  in  on  them,  and  at  those  ahead 
who  are  in  their  way.  They  pull  and  saw  at  the  reins 
until  the  poor  horses  rear  and  plunge  without  advancing 
a  foot.  Drays  bump  one  another  and  lock  wheels,  and 
thrust  their  dangerous,  iron-tipped  poles  in  all  direc- 
tions. Stupid  and  brutal  men  whip  their  own  horses  and 


84  THE    POLICE    DEPARTMENT 

even  those  belonging  to  other  drivers,  in  their  fruitless 
attempts  to  fight  a  way  through.  The  wide  street  is 
literally  choked  with  a  wild  mob  of  angry  men  and 
frantic,  struggling  horses.  Use  your  eyes  well,  children, 
you  are  not  likely  to  see  another  such  scene  very  soon. 

Where  are  the  police?  Surely  here  is  sore  need  for 
them.  Yet  what  they  could  accomplish  in  the  face  of 
such  frightful  confusion,  it  is  hard  to  say.  Just  as  we 
arrived,  however,  one  officer  found  something  to  do, 
and  it  was  the  one  thing  which  was  most  sensible.. 
Seeing  that  the  danger  was  growing  greater  every  mo- 
ment, he  telephoned  news  of  the  trouble  to  police  head- 
quarters. What  came  of  the  call  ?  Look  far  over  yon- 
der at  that  troop  of  mounted  police  galloping  this  way. 
Hark!  do  you  hear  the  ring  of  their  horses'  hoofs  on  the 
pavement  as  they  race  toward  us? 

Straight  into  the  thick  of  the  jam  they  ride,  like 
soldiers  charging  the  enemy.  It  looks  as  if  even  they 
would  be  speedily  swallowed  up  and  held  fast  like  the 
rest.  Not  a  bit  of  it  I  With  a  word  here,  and  a  quick 
command  there,  the  mounted  police,  separating  into 
twos  and  threes,  ride  along  the  outskirts  of  the  mass, 
and  single  out  first  one  truck  and  then  another,  starting 
each  on  its  way  northward  to  a  clear  cross  street  half  a 
mile  ahead.  See  how  they  gradually  disentangle  others, 
and  yet  others  from  the  mass,  and  order  them  to  follow 
those  first  set  free.  Guiding  some,  warning  others  to 


AN  AFTERNOON  WITH  THE  POLICE       85 

wait  where  they  are,  and  watching  with  keen  eyes  every 
opening,  the  blue-coated  riders  waste  no  time  in  their 
work  of  straightening  out  the  tangle.  If  you  look 
sharply,  you  can  already  see  different  lines  of  trucks 
headed  north,  and  moving  as  regularly  as  if  the  awful 
confusion  of  ten  minutes  ago  had  never  existed.  Could 
any  but  the  police,  whose  authority  all  citizens  respect, 
have  accomplished  this  so  quickly  and  so  well  ? 

Off  with  our  caps  once  more,  and  then  on  with  them 
as  we  wish  ourselves  to  another  side  of  the  city  where 
ships  are  coming  in.  Here  at  the  foot  of  Market  Street 
is  as  good  a  place  as  any  to  watch  the  work  of  the  police. 
A  steamer  has  just  tied  up  at  the  wharf.  There  is  a 
larger  crowd  on  the  pier  than  is  usual,  and  the  people 
seem  excited.  Ah!  hear  that  cry:  "Man  overboard! 
Man  overboard!" 

There  he  is,  children,  yonder  near  the  wheel  of  the 
steamer.  Can  you  see  him?  They  have  flung  ropes 
to  him  from  the  deck,  but  he  seems  dazed  and  unable 
to  reach  out  for  them.  Oh!  he  has  gone  under!  Is 
there  no  way  to  save  — 

Splash! 

Did  you  see  the  water  leap  high  in  air,  as  that  blue- 
coated  figure  dove  into  it  like  a  shot  from  the  pier  thirty 
feet  above?  Truly  a  courageous  deed  even  for  a  po- 
liceman. So  deep  a  dive  near  shore  is  apt  to  be  most 
dangerous. 


86 


THE   POLICE   DEPARTMENT 


The  slow  moments  pass.  We  can  see  nothing  of 
either  man.  Oh,  where  is  the  gallant  officer?  Let  us 
hope  he  is  not  hurt,  and  that  he  is  swimming  under 

water  looking  for 
the  man  who  went 
down!  Oh  dear, 
will  he  never  come 
up? 

Look,  look,  chil- 
dren! the  water 
has  parted  and 
two  figures  come 
up  together,  gasp- 
ing for  the  blessed 
air!  Oh,  some- 
thing has  hap- 
pened! Blood  is 
pouring  from  the 
policeman's  head, 
and  his  face  is  very 
white.  But  he  holds  his  burden  fast,  in  spite  of  it; 
and  look!  he  is  even  helping  those  who  have  come  to 
his  aid,  to  knot  the  ropes  about  him. 

Ah!  now  they  are  both  being  drawn  up  to  the  pier.  It 
is  all  over,  but  the  brave  officer  will  carry  to  his  last 
day  the.  mark  where  the  paddle  wheel  struck  him  as 
he  sought  under  water  for  the  man  he  rescued. 


"  The  blue-coated  figure  dove  " 


AN  AFTERNOON  WITH  THE  POLICE       87 

We  have  crowded  much  into  a  single  afternoon,  and 
elsewhere  in  the  great  city  other  policemen  have  perhaps 
been  doing  deeds  equally  brave  and  courageous.  The 
few  our  make-believe  caps  have  helped  us  to  see,  have 
been  enough,  I  am  sure,  to  show  you  that  not  even 
soldiers  are  more  brave  or  daring  than  policemen  in 
their  line  of  duty. 


CHAPTER  XI 

SOME  TRUE  HERO  STORIES 

Courage  and  common  sense,  a  cool  head  and  a  steady 
hand,  quickness  of  thought  and  bravery  of  action,  these 
are  the  qualities  which  make  men  heroes.  Policemen 
have  plenty  of  opportunity  to  show  that  they  possess 
them. 

When  a  fire  alarm  sounds  on  a  policeman's  post,  he 
must  find  out  where  the  fire  is  without  a  moment's 
delay,  and  do  what  he  can  to  save  the  people  in  the  burn- 
ing building,  even  before  the  firemen  arrive.  He  rushes 
up  the  staircase,  knocks  at  every  door,  and  then  helps 
the  tenants  to  make  their  way  out.  Often  the  stair- 
ways are  useless  because  they  are  filled  with  smoke  and 
flame.  The  policeman  must  then  find  other  means  to 
get  the  people  to  safety.  The  fire  escape  is,  of  course, 
his  first  thought;  but  sometimes  the  fire  is  blazing  in 
the  rooms  which  open  upon  the  fire  escape,  and  too 
often  the  platforms  are  blocked  with  boxes  and  other 
things. 

Not  long  ago  a  quick-witted  policeman  found  quicker 
means  to  help  tenants  escape  from  a  burning  house. 
It  was  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  when  a  plain-clothes 


SOME    TRUE    HERO    STORIES  89 

man,  on  a  still-hunt  for  burglars,  discovered  flames 
pouring  from  a  house  where  twenty  families  slept.  For- 
getting the  burglars,  he  hurriedly  sent  in  a  fire  alarm 
and  then  dashed  into  the  house,  pounding  on  every 
door  as  he  leaped  up  the  stairs,  and  yelling  "Fire!"  at 
the  top  of  his  voice. 

The  flames  followed  fast  behind  him,  and  by  the 
time  he  had  reached  the  top  floor,  escape  by  the  stair- 
ways had  become  hopeless.  As  he  helped  the  top-floor 
tenants  to  make  their  escape  by  way  of  the  roof, 
he  was  busy  thinking  of  the  people  on  the  floors  be- 
low, penned  in  by  fire  and  smoke.  He  thought  to  some 
purpose,  too;  for  as  the  last  tenant  of  the  top  floor 
climbed  up  to  the  roof,  the  officer  snatched  the  long 
ironing  board  from  the  kitchen,  and  carried  it  up  with 
him. 

I  suppose  you  are  wondering  why  he  did  this,  since 
none  of  you  can  possibly  believe  he  wanted  to  save  an 
ironing  board  from  the  flames.  While  helping  the  ten- 
ants to  get  up  to  the  roof,  our  officer  had  noticed  that 
there  was  an  air  shaft  between  the  burning  house 
and  the  one  next  door.  It  did  not  seem  very  wide,  and 
he  decided  to  try  bridging  it  with  the  ironing  board. 
Not  a  bad  idea,  was  it  ?  Let  us  see  whether  it  worked. 

From  the  roof  he  hurried  down  with  the  board  to  the 
fourth  floor  in  the  next  house.  Here  he  pushed  the 
board  across  the  shaft  and  rested  it  upon  a  window 


90  THE    POLICE    DEPARTMENT 

sill  of  the  burning  house.  Crossing  quickly  upon  the 
slender  bridge,  he  found  the  window  locked.  He 
kicked  in  the  glass  with  his  heavy  boot  and  leaped  into 
the  room  behind  it.  No  one  was  there,  but  his  loud 
shouts  soon  brought  the  tenants  on  that  floor  flocking 
to  his  side,  and,  helping  the  women  and  children  over 
first,  he  managed  to  get  all  of  them  across.  Back  again 
himself,  he  went  down  to  the  next  floor,  with  the  precious 
bridge  in  his  arms,  and  repeated  the  process.  Thus 
he  continued  on  floor  after  floor,  until  he  had  rescued 
thirty  lives  with  the  aid  of  the  trusty  ironing  board. 
Meanwhile  the  firemen  had  arrived  and  were  doing 
their  share,  and  when  finally  the  fire  was  out,  it  was 
found  that  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  the  house 
had  escaped. 

The  list  of  heroic  deeds  the  police  have  performed  at 
fires  grows  longer  every  month,  and  I  wish  I  had  room 
to  tell  you  about  them.  Instead,  you  shall  hear  of  other 
acts  of  great  bravery  which  are  briefly  recorded  in  the 
honor  roll  of  the  Police  Department.  I  have  chosen  only 
a  few  of  many,  but  they  will  serve  to  show  you  how  the 
policeman  is  always  ready  to  give  the  right  sort  of  help 
at  the  right  time  to  any  citizen  who  happens  to  be  in 
need  of  it. 

Have  you  ever  seen  a  horse  running  away,  dragging 
a  wagon  at  his  heels,  and  dashing  in  wild  zigzags  from 
one  side  of  the  street  to  the  other?  Men  shout  and  try 


SOME  TRUE  HERO  STORIES  9 1 

to  stop  him,  only  to  excite  him  the  more.  The  wagon 
is  overturned,  or  it  crashes  into  a  lamp-post,  and  the 
maddened  animal  rushes  blindly  on,  making  sharp  and 
unexpected  turns,  and  endangering  the  lives  of  all  who 
may  be  in  his  path.  Horses  are  powerful  animals, 
usually  well-behaved  and  obedient.  They  cannot,  how- 
ever, always  be  controlled  when  frightened,  and  they  are 
at  such  a  time  very  dangerous,  quite  as  dangerous  in- 
deed as  wild  beasts. 

On  the  midnight  which  brought  us  the  year  1905,  the 
streets  were  filled,  as  usual,  with  crowds  making  merry 
over  the  new  year.  Pistols  were  fired,  and  noisy  rattles 
whirled  in  the  air;  church  bells  pealed  and  loud  steam 
whistles  shrieked  their  glad  welcome  to  the  incoming 
year.  Near  the  corner  of  Madison  and  Market  streets 
a  team  drawing  a  heavy  truck  took  fright.  The  driver 
was  doing  his  best  to  quiet  the  horses,  when  a  car 
passed  close  by  crowded  with  passengers  laughing, 
cheering,  singing,  whirling  rattles,  and  tooting  loud  tin 
horns.  The  sudden  din  coming  from  behind  drove  the 
excited  animals  frantic,  and  they  bounded  forward  in  a 
mad  race  to  get  away  from  it  all. 

Women  screamed,  and  men  shouted  "Whoa!  Whoa!" 
to  no  purpose.  On  the  animals  dashed,  faster  and 
faster,  pulling  now  to  this  side  and  now  to  that,  and  into 
the  very  midst  of  the  crowd.  Directly  in  their  path 
stood  a  woman  and  a  child,  both  numb  with  fright  and 


9  2  THE   POLICE   DEPARTMENT 

unable  to  move.  Men  in  plenty  were  near,  but  not  one 
knew  what  to  do.  Every  heart  stood  still,  and  some 
turned  away  unable  to  bear  the  sight  of  the  two  under 
the  iron-shod  feet  of  the  horses.  Then,  like  a  flash,  a 
tall  figure  in  the  blue  uniform  of  the  police,  leaped  to 
the  horses'  heads,  and  with  outstretched  arms  flung  the 


"  Both  were  saved  " 

woman  far  to  one  side  of  the  maddened  animals  and 
the  child  to  the  other.  Both  were  saved,  but  the  iron- 
tipped  tongue  of  the  truck  threw  the  policeman  to  the 
ground  and  under  the  plunging  feet  of  the  horses.  You 
will  be  glad  to  learn  that  this  brave  policeman  was  not 
killed ;  but  he  was  badly  hurt,  and  it  was  many  months 
before  he  was  again  fit  for  duty. 

Those  of  you  who  have  ever  stood  at  the  water's  edge 
and  watched  a  large  number  of  logs  floating  up  and 


SOME  TRUE  HERO  STORIES  93 

down  on  the  waves,  may  have  noticed  how  much  like 
living  creatures  they  play  and  roll  about ;  or  perhaps  you 
may  have  likened  their  tossing  and  tumbling  to  dead 
leaves  dancing  before  the  wind.  When  the  water  is 
rough,  you  can  see  the  logs  crash  so  that  the  splinters 
fly,  and  climb  one  upon  another  in  a  savage  rough- 
and-tumble  fight.  Should  you  try  to  step  on  any  one 
of  them,  it  would  roll  from  under  you  like  a  giant 
cork,  and  down  you  would  plunge  underneath  the  rest. 
Then  indeed  would  it  go  hard  with  you,  for  the  bump- 
ing, clashing  logs  would  close  over  you  like  a  roof,  and 
any  attempt  to  rise  to  the  surface  between  them  would 
be  hopeless  under  their  crushing  weight. 

Just  such  a  restless,  unruly  drift  of  logs  was  one  day 
washing  against  the  Battery  wall  near  the  lower  end 
of  Manhattan  Island.  Hundreds  of  logs  were  in  the 
mass  which  tossed  up  and  down,  up  and  down,  with  the 
ever  rolling  waves.  Suddenly  a  cry  went  up,  "Boy 
overboard!" 

The  people  in  Battery  Park  rushed  to  the  rail  and 
stood  there,  watching  the  boy  struggle  desperately  to 
steer  clear  of  the  logs,  and  wondering  how  to  help  him. 
One  man  alone  wasted  no  time  wondering.  This  was 
the  policeman  on  guard.  Flinging  off  coat  and  helmet 
as  he  ran  toward  the  rail,  he  made  a  flying  leap  over  it 
and  plunged  into  the  water,  much  as  boys  do  into  a 
swimming  pool.  The  boy  was  close  to  the  dangerous 


94  THE    POLICE    DEPARTMENT 

drift,  and  the  policeman  struck  out  straight  for  him. 
When  he  reached  the  spot,  the  lad  had  already  been 
drawn  under,  and  his  rescuer  instantly  followed. 

The  people  on  shore  held  their  breath,  dreading  lest 
both  be  battered  and  killed  by  the  cruel  logs.  Then 
when  they  caught  sight  of  the  white-shirted  officer  rising 
to  the  surface  with  the  boy  in  his  arms,  they  cheered 
and  cheered  again.  But  the  battle  was  not  yet  won. 
Weighted  down  by  boots  filled  with  water,  the  officer 
now  had  to  make  his  way  through  the  great  drift  which 
tossed  between  him  and  the  steps  which  led  down  from 
the  nearest  pier. 

It  was  slow  and  painful  work,  and  the  logs  pounded 
and  bruised  him  as  he  swam.  Finally,  carefully  shield- 
ing his  burden  from  the  attacks  of  the  driftwood,  he 
reached  the  steps,  faint  and  almost  exhausted.  Will- 
ing hands  lifted  both  from  the  water,  and  one  more  gal- 
lant piece  of  heroism  was  placed  to  the  credit  of  the 
police  force. 

Patrolling  his  post,  the  policeman,  like  a  sentry  on 
duty,  is  likely  at  any  moment  to  face  unseen  danger. 
Enemies  lie  in  wait  for  his  coming,  and,  like  miserable 
cowards,  they  strike  at  him  in  the  dark  and  from  under 
cover.  Many  a  brave  man  has  thus  been  done  to  death, 
but  many  another  has  by  quick  action,  or  by  sheer  grit 
even  when  wounded,  overcome  heavy  odds  and  marched 
his  prisoner  to  the  station  house. 


SOME  TRUE  HERO   STORIES 


95 


Brave  deeds  like  these,  and  rescues  such  as  you  read 
of  here  do  not,  I  am  glad  to  say,  go  unrewarded.  They 
bring  the  men  honors  and  promotion,  and  win  for  them 
the  medals  which  are  every  year  awarded  for  acts  of 
extraordinary  merit  and  bravery  among  the  police. 

On  the  occasion  of  the  annual  parade  of  the  New  York 
Police,  his  Honor  the  Mayor  pins  these  medals  with  his 


A  Police  Parade 

own  hands,  to  the  coats  of  the  men  who  have  won  them, 
while  thousands  of  citizens  look  on  and  applaud.  It  is 
a  fine  sight  and  one  any  city  may  be  well  proud  of.  I 
hope  you  will  be  able  to  attend  the  next  Police  Parade, 
and  see  for  yourselves,  leading  all  the  rest,  the  Honor 
Company  —  every  man  of  which  has  woi?  one  or  more 
medals  in  the  past.  Shoulder  to  shoulder  march  the 


96  THE    POLICE    DEPARTMENT 

blue-coated  men  in  the  long  procession  which  follows, 
with  heads  erect,  eyes  front,  and  hearts  beating  proudly 
in  the  knowledge  that  they  are  part  of  it  all,  each  hoping 
that  next  year  his  own  name  may  be  added  to  the  honor 
list  of  police  heroes. 


CHAPTER  XII 

HOW   CITIZENS   CAN   HELP   THE  POLICE 

When  we  think  of  the  men  of  the  police  force,  daily 
risking  their  lives  for  the  protection  of  the  citizens,  it  is 
but  natural  to  ask  what  the  citizens  can  do  for  them  in 
return.  Any  policeman  will  tell  you  that  the  citizens, 
old  and  young  alike,  can  do  much  to  help  the  police, 
and  that  the  entire  city  would  benefit  by  such  help. 
This  is  especially  true  of  those  matters  that  belong  to 
keeping  order. 

Every  law  made  to  prevent  disorder  has  some  good 
reason  behind  it.  People  may  not  always  know  the 
reason,  but  this  gives  them  no  excuse  for  disobeying  the 
law.  When  a  police  officer  tells  a  citizen  that  he  must 
keep  the  gutter  and  sidewalk  in  front  of  his  house  or 
his  shop,  clear  of  snow  and  ice;  that  he  must  not  ob- 
struct the  sidewalk  with  boxes,  show  cases,  or  push  carts ; 
that  he  must  keep  his  fire  escapes  clear;. and  that  he 
must  not  waste  water,  nor  throw  refuse  into  the  streets, 
it  is  useless  for  the  citizen  to  argue  the  matter.  Law  is 
law,  and  the  policeman  must  see  that  it  is  obeyed.  He 
has  no  time  either  to  explain  or  to  argue  the  reason  for 
the  law,  nor  is  it  at  all  necessary  that  he  should  do  so. 

Citizenship — 7  97 


98  THE    POLICE    DEPARTMENT 

Surely  any  one  can  understand  that  unless  house- 
holders sweep  the  snow  from  the  sidewalks,  people 
must  find  walking  in  winter  disagreeable  and  dangerous; 
that  unless  each  keeps  the  gutter  before  his  own  door 
clear  of  ice,  the  melting  snow  cannot  run  off  into  the 
sewer,  and  may  make  its  way  into  cellars,  doing  damage 
to  property.  The  street  belongs  to  all,  and  no  one  has 
the  right  to  cut  off  any  of  its  space  with  show  cases,  or 
with  boxes  over  which  people  may  stumble.  Nor  need 
one  look  very  long  or  very  far  for  the  reasons  why  fire 
escapes  must  be  kept  clear;  why  water  should  not  be 
wasted;  and  why  people  are  forbidden  to  throw  refuse 
into  the  street.  One  person's  doing  of  any  or  all  of 
these  things  may  not  cause  a  great  amount  of  harm, 
it  is  true ;  but  think  of  the  result  if  a  hundred,  or  a  hun- 
dred thousand  others  should  do  the  same,  each  one 
feeling  that  he  had  as  much  right  as  his  neighbor,  to 
be  careless  or  disorderly. 

Citizens  are  foolish  as  well  as  wrong  who  obey  the 
law  only  while  the  policeman  is  watching,  and  disobey 
it  the  moment  his  back  is  turned.  If  all  of  us  always 
obeyed  the  laws,  there  would  be  very  little  disorder  or 
crime.  Think  how  greatly  this  would  help  on  the  work 
of  the  Police  Department  and  how  much  better  and 
happier  our  city  would  be  for  it ! 

The  police  are  watchful,  and  their  special  training 
makes  them  quick  to  see  signs  of  disorder  and  of  evil- 


HOW    CITIZENS    CAN   HELP   THE   POLICE  99 

doing.  They  cannot  be  everywhere  at  the  same  time, 
however,  and  consequently  many  wrong  things  may  be 
done  which  the  police  know  nothing  about.  Here  we 
have  another  way  in  which  the  citizens  can  help  the 
police.  Indeed,  the  law  says  that  they  must  do  so,  for 
it  holds  guilty  and  punishes  those  who  know  of  crime 
and  fail  to  report  it  to  the  police.  Sometimes  persons 
are  aware  that  a  crime  will  be  committed.  Again,  they 
hear  of  it  after  it  has  been  committed.  In  either  case 
it  is  their  duty  to  report  what  they  know  at  the  nearest 
police  station,  and  at  the  earliest  moment.  Whatever 
they  thus  report  is  always  carefully  investigated  by 
the  police,  without  delay. 

Children,  being  on  the  streets  a  great  deal)  are  likely 
to  see  many  things.  As  little  citizens  it  is  their  duty 
to  report  any  serious  accident  to  the  first  police  officer 
they  meet.  Should  you  see  any  one  send  in  a  fire 
alarm  when  there  is  no  fire,  be  sure  to  report  it  to  the 
policeman  at  once,  so  that  he  can  send  the  firemen  back 
quickly.  Sending  a  false  fire  alarm  is  a  piece  of  mis- 
conduct perfectly  inexcusable,  and  one  that  the  law 
punishes  very  severely.  While  the  fire  engines  are 
out  in  answer  to  a  false  alarm,  and  the  firemen  are 
wasting  time  looking  for  a  fire  which  does  not  exist,  a 
real  fire  may  break  out  elsewhere,  and  their  delay  in 
getting  to  it  would  mean  unnecessary  destruction  of 
property,  and  perhaps  loss  of  life. 


100 


THE  POLICE  DEPARTMENT 


I  am  sorry  and  ashamed  to  say  that  strangers,  es- 
pecially foreigners  who  do  not  speak  our  language,  are 
sometimes  treated  badly  by  mischievous  citizens.  It  is 
a  poor,  one-sided  sort  of  fun  to  send  a  trustful  stranger 
asking  advice,  in  a  direction  opposite  to  the  one  he 
ought  to  take,  and  it  is  a  mean  and  dis- 
graceful trick  to  play.  When  the  foreigner 
thus  misdirected  finds  out  the  truth,  what  is 

he  likely  to  think  of 
the  city  which  per- 
mits its  citizens  to  do 
such  things?     Should 
you  ever  see   any  one 
do  anything  of  the 
sort,   I    hope    you 
will  try  to  set  the  stranger 
right,  even  if  you  go  out  of 
your  way  to  do  so. 

You  may  meet  a  little 
child  whose  tear-stained 
face  and  frightened  eyes 
show  that  it  is  lost. 
Very  likely  every  step  the  poor,  tired  feet  take,  is  carry- 
ing it  further  and  further  from  home.  At  every  cross- 
ing the  tiny  little  wanderer  is  in  grave  danger  of  being 
run  over  and  trampled  upon.  As  a  good  citizen  it  is 
for  you  to  take  the  toddler  by  the  hand  and  lead  it  to 


"  He  will  take  charge  of  the  little  one 


HOW   CITIZENS   CAN   HFXP   TKE  'tOLICK  :oi 

the  nearest  policeman.  He  will  take  charge  of  the  little 
one,  and  it  will  be  fed  and  cared  for  in  the  station  house, 
until  its  parents  come  to  claim  it. 

Boys  who  belong  to  a  "gang"  or  "  club  "  can  render 
excellent  help  to  the  police.  No  fear  then,  let  me  tell 
you,  that  the  policeman  will  be  "down  on"  them,  nor 
any  need  to  run  away  when  they  catch  sight  of  his  blue 
coat  and  shining  brass  buttons.  The  club  can  then 
have  all  the  right  kind  of  fun  it  wants  or  can  invent,  and 
it  will  no  longer  be  blamed,  innocent  or  guilty,  for  every 
bit  of  mischief  afoot  in  the  neighborhood.  It  could  even 
make  itself  a  sort  of  assistant  to  the  Police  Department. 
At  any  rate  it  might  be  worth  while  for  the  captain  of 
a  club  to  report  to  the  policeman,  and  ask  him  in  a 
businesslike  way  how  the  club  can  help  him.  He 
will  be  astonished  for  the  moment,  you  may  be  sure; 
but  if  he  sees  the  young  captain  is  in  earnest  and  in- 
tends to  play  fair,  he  will  probably  discover  something 
the  club  can  do  for  him  or  for  the  welfare  and  peace 
of  the  neighborhood. 

A  club  might  look  after  the  fire  escapes  to  see  that 
they  are  always  kept  clear;  or,  very  possibly,  the  police- 
man at  the  school  crossing  would  be  glad  to  have  the 
club  help  him  get  the  little  children  safely  over  the  street. 
Or  the  club,  if  it  examined  its  own  neighborhood,  might 
probably  find  some  special  duty  which  its  members 
could  handle  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  policeman  and 


THE    POLICE  DEPARTMENT 

of  the  people  themselves.  Many  a  club  of  boys  can  in 
this  way  grow  into  a  most  useful  "  League/7  respected 
by  every  one  for  the  capable  work  it  does. 

Little  citizens,  like  grown-up  ones,  are  members  of 
society  just  as  they  are  members  of  their  family  and  of 
their  school.  As  such,  each  one  has  certain  rights,  and 
also  certain  duties.  The  city  protects  the  rights,  and 
in  return  it  exacts  the  duties.  This  is  fair,  is  it  not? 
The  duties  are  to  help  maintain  order;  to  do  what  the 
law  requires;  and  to  keep  from  doing  what  the  law 
forbids.  People  are  not  likely  to  forget  their  rights. 
When  they  also  remember  their  duties,  they  become 
an  honor  to  themselves  and  a  credit  to  their  city  and 
their  country.  Children  who  come  to  us  from  foreign 
lands  should  be  most  anxious  to  learn  of  these  duties 
and  to  do  them.  Foreigners  often  make  the  best  kind  of 
American  citizens.  One  reason  for  this  is  the  fact  that 
many  foreign-born  children  are  among  the  keenest  to 
perform  all  the  duties  that  belong  to  good  citizenship. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  STREET  CLEANING  DEPARTMENT 

Boys,  as  well  as  girls,  know  about  the  kind  of  work 
needed  to  keep  their  homes  clean.  Floors  must  be 
swept,  dust  must  be  wiped  from  walls  and  furniture, 
and  clothes  and  windows  must  be  washed.  It  is  busy 
work,  and  much  of  it  has  to  be  done  over  day  after  day, 
simply  to  get  rid  of  the  dirt  which  gathers.  Dirt  has  a 
never-failing  habit  of  creeping  in  at  every  crack,  and 
of  coming  back  again  even  after  we  have  very  carefully 
turned  it  out  of  doors.  Dirt  is  never  pleasant  to  look 
upon,  and  very  often  it  brings  disease  where  it  is  al- 
lowed to  remain.  That  is  the  reason  why  sensible 
people  ought  always  to  be  on  guard  against  all  kinds  of 
dirt,  and  ready  to  fight  it  wherever  they  see  its  traces. 
Their  best  weapons  are  Cleaning  and  Keeping  things 
clean. 

When  people  fight,  they  try  to  conquer  the  enemy. 
The  only  way  to  conquer  dirt,  the  common  enemy  of  all 
of  us,  is  to  get  rid  of  it.  The  mere  act  of  sweeping  does 
not  do  this.  The  broom,  although  very  good  as  far  as 
it  goes,  simply  pushes  the  dirt  from  one  place  to  another. 

That  is  not  getting  rid  of  it.    To  do  this,  the  sweep- 

103 


104      THE  STREET  CLEANING  DEPARTMENT 

ings  must  be  gathered  up  and  put  where  they  cannot 
get  back  again.  The  best  way  is,  of  course,  to  burn 
the  sweepings  in  the  stove.  Where  there  is  no  stove 
in  which  they  can  be  burned,  the  collection  should  be 
put  into  a  paper  bag,  or  else  rolled  into  a  bundle  and 
wrapped  in  paper.  Now,  what  should  be  done  with 
the  bag  or  bundle?  It  should  not  be  thrown  out  of 
the  door  or  window,  because  the  street  belongs  to 
the  city.  It  is  also  against  the  law  to  throw  dirt  or 
refuse  of  any  kind  into  the  streets.  Even  if  it  were  not 
against  the  law,  it  is  a  most  untidy  thing  to  do,  and  one 
to  be  very  much  ashamed  of.  The  proper  place  for  a 
package  of  sweepings  is  in  the  box  where  the  rest  of 
the  rubbish  that  collects  in  a  house  is  kept.  This  rub- 
bish consists  of  papers,  rags,  empty  boxes,  and  general 
trash.  The  sweepings  are  well  out  of  the  way  here, 
and  safe  until  the  men  employed  by  the  city  for  the  pur- 
pose, come  to  your  door  to  take  the  rubbish  away. 

The  rubbish  box  gathers  much  but  not  all  of  the  dirt 
which  the  housekeeper  must  get  rid  of.  Parings  and 
seeds  from  vegetables,  fruit  skins,  corn  cobs,  scrapings 
from  the  dishes,  and  meat  bones,  form  refuse  of  a  dif- 
ferent sort.  Matter  of  this  class  is  meant  by  the  word 
"  garbage."  Garbage  decays  very  quickly,  and  good 
housekeepers  like  to  get  rid  of  it  at  the  earliest  moment. 
It  attracts  flies  and  vermin,  and,  if  kept  too  long,  will 
give  out  a  most  unpleasant  odor, 


THE  STREET  CLEANING  DEPARTMENT  105 

Ashes  and  cinders  left  over  wherever  coal  fires  are 
burned  for  cooking,  for  heating,  or  for  manufacturing 
purposes,  form  a  third  class  of  dirt  which  must  be  dis- 
posed of  in  some  safe  and  sure  way. 

The  rubbish,  the  garbage,  and  the  ashes  which 
gather  in  your  own  home  in  a  single  day,  would  make 
quite  a  little  heap  if  thrown  together  upon  one  spot. 
Add  to  this  heap  the  other  heaps  just  like  it  which  col- 
lect in  the  other  homes  on  your  block,  and  then  multi- 
ply the  sum  by  the  thousands  of  blocks  of  a  large  city. 
Upon  the  top  of  this  great  pile,  put  the  dirt  which  is 
collected  every  day  in  schoolhouses  and  in  churches, 
in  shops  and  in  factories,  in  eating  houses  and  in 
hotels.  If  it  were  possible  to  do  this,  the  stuff  would 
make  a  great  hill  nearly  as  high  as  a  mountain.  Or, 
if  spread  out  over  the  city,  it  would  carpet  every  foot  of 
our  many  streets.  What  a  disgusting  carpet  it  would 
be,  to  be  sure !  I  do  not  believe  any  one  could  imagine 
it,  and  no  one  would  want  to  think  such  a  state  of  things 
possible.  Yet  this  is  exactly  what  we  should  see  in  any 
city,  even  in  proud  New  York  for  example,  had  not 
the  government  long  ago  made  it  a  practice  to  hire 
people  to  carry  away  the  dirt  every  day. 

As  the  city  of  New  York  grew  in  size,  it  had  to  em- 
ploy more  and  more  men  for  this  one  purpose,  until  to- 
day they  form  a  good-sized  army.  Hundreds  of  horses 
and  carts  are  used  every  day  to  carry  away  the  rubbish, 


106      THE  STREET  CLEANING  DEPARTMENT 

the  garbage,  and  the  ashes  which  collect  in  the  homes 

of  the  citizens,  in  their  places  of  business,  and  in  the* 

public  buildings. 
Clean  streets  are  quite  as  necessary  as  clean  homes 

and  shops,  and  the  work  of  cleaning  them  belongs, 

like  the  streets 
themselves,  to  the 
city.  They  must 
be  scraped  and 
swept  every  day, 
and  the  sweepings 
from  the  pave- 

Collecting  Ashes  .. 

m  e  n  t  s  form  a 

fourth  class  of  dirt  which  must  be  gathered  up  and 
carried  away. 

All  this  makes  work  in  plenty  even  for  an  army  of 
men.  In  New  York  this  work  is  so  important  that  the 
Mayor  appoints  a  special  commissioner  to  take  charge 
of  it.  His  department  is  known  as  the  Street  Cleaning 
Department,  and  like  the  Fire  and  Police  Departments, 
its  members  wear  a  special  uniform.  The  men  of  the 
street-sweeping  force  wear  white  suits  and  helmets,  and 
the  men  who  collect  the  refuse  and  drive  the  carts  which 
carry  it  away  wear  brown  ones.  The  higher  officers 
wear  tan-colored  uniforms  and  caps.  All  of  the  men 
wear  badges. 

Brisk  use  of  a  broom  gathers  up  dirt  from  the  streets 


THE  STREET  CLEANING  DEPARTMENT      107 

which  form  the  city  floor,  just  as  from  other  floors,  but 
only  that  dirt  which  lies  loose  on  the  surface.  Dirt 
which  has  been  trodden  in  is  not  so  easily  removed. 
In  our  homes  we  get  rid  of  trodden-in  dirt  by  scrubbing. 
It  would  be  silly  to  try  to  clean  a  street  in  the  same 
way,  for  it  would  take  a  long  time  and  the  brushes 
would  soon  wear  out.  The  Street  Cleaning  Department 
has  a  better  method.  It  uses  street-cleaning  machines 
in  addition  to  ordinary  brooms  and  scrapers,  and  it  also 


"  It  also  washes  the  pavements  " 

washes  the  pavements  and  gutters,  either  by  flushing 
machines  or  by  means  of  a  swift  stream  of  water  thrown 
from  a  hose.  Such  washing,  or  "flushing"  as  it  is 
called,  serves  also  to  keep  the  dust  from  flying  about,  and 
to  cool  the  hot  pavements  in  summer  time.  Flushing 


io8 


THE  STREET  CLEANING  DEPARTMENT 


the  streets  is  not  allowed  in  winter,  for  some  of  the  water 
would  quickly  turn  to  ice.  Neither  is  flushing  allowed 
when  there  is  a  scarcity  of  water  in  the  city  water  works. 
Winter  gives  the  Street  Cleaning  Department  more 
work  than  it  can  easily  handle.  You  boys,  and  a  num- 
ber of  you  girls,  gladly  welcome  a  snowstorm  because 
of  the  fun  it  brings  you.  The  men  of  the  Street  Clean- 
ing force  are  not  so  happy  over  it,  I  assure  you.  The 
great  white  blanket  which  is  spread  over  the  streets, 
so  pure  and  beautiful  when  freshly  fallen,  is  quickly 
trampled  by  a  city's  traffic  into  a  layer  of  black  mud 
and  dirt.  Next  day  sunshine,  or  perhaps  rain,  turns  it 
into  a  wet  and  filthy  covering  of  slush;  and  during  the 

night  this  freezes 
into  stiff  ruts  and 
ridges  with  ugly 
holes  between. 

The  street 
sweepers  have  to 
work  very  hard  to 

Cleaning  Streets  after  a  Snowstorm  remove  the  frozen 

dirt  from  the  stones  beneath,  and  to  shovel  it  into  the 
carts  which  carry  it  away.  Sometimes  they  have  to 
work  standing  ankle-deep  in  icy  water.  Then,  again, 
they  have  to  chop  and  break  the  frozen  crust  into  pieces 
before  they  can  loosen  it  from  the  pavement.  This 
takes  a  great  deal  of  time,  and  extra  men  have  to  be 


THE  STREET  CLEANING  DEPARTMENT  IOQ 

employed  to  help.  Extra  horses  and  carts  are  also 
needed,  because  those  which  belong  to  the  Department 
are  required  to  collect  ashes.  In  winter,  you  know,  a 
great  mass  of  ashes  is  caused  by  the  large  amount  of 
coal  used  to  warm  the  city  buildings  when  it  is  very 
cold.  The  entire  Department,  from  the  commissioner 
at  its  head  down  to  the  youngest  recruit  in  the  army 
of  sweepers,  is  always  very  thankful  when  spring  re- 
turns and  the  winter's  last  snowstorm  is  a  thing  of  the 
past. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

DEPARTMENT  RULES  AND  REASONS  FOR  THEM 

Like  all  the  other  departments  which  take  charge  of 
the  important  work  of  the  city,  the  Street  Cleaning 
Department  finds  it  necessary  to  make  certain  rules. 
Citizens  who  obey  these  rules  help  on  the  work;  those 
who  disobey  them  hinder  the  work  and  may  be  pun- 
ished for  it  according  to  law. 

A  most  important  rule  in  New  York  requires  the 
citizens  to  tie  up  light  rubbish  in  bundles,  so  that  there 
is  no  loose  stuff  to  be  scattered  over  the  streets  by  the 
wind,  or  blown  into  windows  and  doorways.  A  second 
rule,  equally  important,  requires  the  citizens  to  provide 
separate  barrels  or  cans  or  boxes  to  hold  ashes  and 
garbage,  and  to  see  that  these  two  classes  of  dirt  are 
never  mixed.  The  reason  for  the  second  rule  is  quite 
as  simple  as  for  the  first,  though  it  will  take  a  bit  longer 
to  make  it  perfectly  clear  to  you.  It  has  been  found 
that  the  dirt  can  be  handled  in  a  more  orderly  manner, 
and  at  a  lower  cost,  when  the  different  kinds  are  kept 
separate.  Perhaps  you  wonder  how  it  can  cost  less  to 
collect  different  kinds  of  waste  in  different  wagons,  than 
when  all  kinds  are  thrown  into  the  same  wagon.  You 


no 


DEPARTMENT  RULES  III 

may  even  think  it  might  cost  less  the  other  way.  Let 
us  see. 

Collecting  the  waste  of  the  entire  city  is  only  part  of 
the  duty  of  the  Street  Cleaning  Department.  It  must 
also  get  rid  of  the  dirt.  This  is  really  part  of  the  clean- 
ing process,  as  we  see  it  on  a  small  scale  in  our  homes. 
Getting  rid  of  the  city's  waste  in  a  proper  manner,  is 
no  easy  task.  When  I  tell  you  how  it  is  done,  you  will 
see  that  the  task  is  made  more  difficult,  and  also  more 
costly,  when  the  waste  is  mixed. 

The  waste  from  a  large  city  like  New  York  is  not  so 
worthless  as  you  may  think.  Ashes,  when  clean  and 
unmixed,  are  very  useful  for  filling  in  swamps  and  low- 
lying  lands,  for  road-building,  and  for  other  purposes. 
The  people  who  have  use  for  ashes  are  willing  to  buy 
them  from  the  city,  provided  that  they  are  not  mixed 
with  garbage  and  rubbish.  This,  you  see,  gives  the 
ashes  a  certain  value,  so  long  as  they  are  kept  separate 
and  free  from  other  dirt. 

Rubbish,  which  includes  general  trash  collected  all 
over  the  city,  contains  a  great  many  things  which  can 
be  used  for  various  purposes.  Felt,  cheap  grades  of 
cloth,  and  paper  may  be  made  from  the  rags.  The 
tin  cans  and  scraps  of  metal  which  the  citizens  throw 
away,  can  be  melted  down  and  used  for  making  the 
weights  which  balance  window  sashes.  Use  is  also 
found  for  the  leather  in  old  shoes,  for  the  wood  in  boxes 


112 


THE  STREET  CLEANING  DEPARTMENT 


and  broken  furniture,  for  the  rubber  in  old  overshoes, 
broken  garden  hose,  and  worn-out  tires;  for  old  news- 
papers and  books;  and  for  much  else  which  the  rubbish 
carts  collect. 

The  value  of  this  class  of  waste  is  scarcely  enough 
to  make  it  worth  any  one's  while  to  buy  up  the  whole 


Apparatus  for  extracting  Fats  from  Garbage 

collection,  or  the  city  would  gladly  sell  it  outright.  It 
is,  however,  quite  enough  to  make  certain  men  willing 
to  pay  the  city  more  than  a  hundred  thousand  dollars 
every  year,  for  permission  to  trim  or  sort  out  what 
they  want  from  the  rubbish  collected  in  a  single  borough 
of  New  York. 

Even  the  unpleasant  mass  of  garbage  collected  each 
day,  offers  a  certain  amount  of  useful  material  to  the 


DEPARTMENT  RULES  113 

people  who  know  how  to  use  it.  Oils,  soaps,  and 
perfumery,  are  made  from  the  fats  and  grease  which 
are  found  in  large  quantities  in  the  city's  garbage. 
The  bones,  when  ground  into  powder,  and  the  decaying 
animal  and  vegetable  matter,  when  properly  treated, 
make  excellent  fertilizers.  Farmers  use  them  to  spread 
over  their  fields  in  order  to  improve  the  soil.  On  the 
whole,  there  is  less  value  in  garbage  than  in  the  other 
classes  of  the  city's  waste,  but  it  is  enough  to  make 
contractors  willing  to  carry  the  unpleasant  stuff  far 
away  from  the  city,  for  considerably  less  than  the  actual 
cost  of  the  work. 

Like  every  other  good  business  man,  the  Commis- 
sioner of  the  Street  Cleaning  Department  tries  to  do 
his  share  of  the  city's  work  at  as  low  a  cost  as  is 
possible.  As  you  have  just  read,  he  finds  it  less  ex- 
pensive to  dispose  of  the  city's  waste  when  its  different 
classes  are  kept  separate.  Then  is  not  that  rule  a  wise 
and  reasonable  one,  which  forbids  the  citizens  to  mix 
these  different  classes  of  waste  ?  Ought  not  every  citi- 
zen do  his  best  to  obey  such  a  law,  in  order  to  save  the 
city's  money  ? 

What  do  you  suppose  the  Commissioner  of  the  De- 
partment does  with  that  part  of  New  York's  waste  which 
he  cannot  sell  because  no  one  will  buy  it  or  even  take 
it  away?  The  rubbish  which  is  left  over  after  the 
trimmers  have  removed  whatever  they  can  either,  use 

Citizenship — 8 


114      THE  STREET  CLEANING  DEPARTMENT 

or  sell,  is  burned  up  in  a  great  furnace.  The  heat  the 
fires  give  out  is  used  to  run  engines  and  other  ma- 
chinery. These  furnish  all  the  electric  light  and  power 
required  for  the  furnace  building  and  also  for  the  De- 
partment stables. 

Even  the  street  sweepings  are  not  allowed  to  go  to 
waste  unused.  In  the  northeastern  part  of  the  city  of 
New  York  lies  Rikers  Island,  surrounded  by  worthless 
mud  flats.  These  flats  are  gradually  being  built  up 
above  the  water,  and  changed  into  broad  acres  of  good 
land  which  will,  some  day,  be  of  considerable  money 
value  to  the  city.  This  excellent  work  is  done  by 
spreading  the  street  sweepings  and  the  unsold  ashes 
over  the  sunken  lands.  This  raises  and  builds  up  the 
submerged  flats,  and  strengthens  them  for  future  use. 

The  fine  park  at  Cromwells  Creek,  near  the  northerly 
end  of  Macombs  Dam  Bridge  is  an  instance  of  land 
filled  in  and  raised  in  this  manner.  Once  an  unsightly 
and  utterly  useless  mud  flat  of  the  Harlem  River,  it  is 
now  a  delightful  recreation  ground  for  the  citizens. 
The  credit  for  reclaiming  this  and  many  more  mud  flats, 
and  for  enlarging  Rikers  Island,  is  entirely  due  to 
the  New  York  Street  Cleaning  Department.  Remem- 
ber this  when  next  you  see  a  street  sweeper  plying  his 
broom,  and  respect  both  the  work  and  the  worker, 
because  both  are  a  credit  to  the  city. 


CHAPTER  XV 

WITH  THE  STREET  CLEANERS 

Common  sense,  as  well  as  the  law,  tells  us  that  the 
man  who  agrees  to  take  charge  of  a  city  department  is 
responsible  for  its  work.  That  is  to  say,  he  must  an- 
swer for  the  manner  in  which  the  work  is  done.  He 
receives  the  credit  for  good  results,  and  must  bear  the 
blame  for  bad  ones,  even  when  the  fault  is  less  his  own 
than  that  of  the  men  under  him. 

The  work  of  the  Street  Cleaning  Department  is  done 
by  an  army  of  men,  as  we  have  already  seen.  It  is 
quite  impossible  for  any  Commissioner  to  keep  his  eyes 
on  all  the  men  all  the  time  they  are  at  work.  He  must 
depend,  like  every  other  head  of  an  army,  upon  the 
reports  brought  to  him  by  the  officers  in  charge  of  the 
men  in  the  ranks.  Sometimes,  however,  officers  make 
mistakes,  and  sometimes  they  neglect  their  duty.  This 
is  wrong,  for  officers  ought  to  be  trustworthy;  when  they 
grow  careless  the  men  cannot  do  their  best  work. 

The  only  way  the  head  of  an  army  can  feel  sure  that 
his  officers  as  well  as  his  men  are  doing  their  duty,  is  to 
inspect  their  work  in  person  every  now  and  then.  This 
is  true  of  every  army,  whether  its  men  are  soldiers  or 

"5 


Il6      THE  STREET  CLEANING  DEPARTMENT 

laborers.  The  head  of  the  army  of  street  cleaners 
makes  his  inspections  at  night  as  well  as  in  the  day- 
time, and  often  when  he  is  least  expected.  If  he  finds 
officers  or  men  shirking  their  work,  they  must  answer 
for  it  before  many  days  pass ;  but  he  notes  faithful  work 
also,  and  when  there  are  promotions  to  be  made,  he 
bears  in  mind  those  who  do  it. 

I  wish  it  were  possible  for  us  to  use  our  magic  caps 
and  go  with  the  Commissioner  when  next  he  makes 
a  tour  of  inspection,  rushing  from  one  end  of  the  city 
to  another  in  his  swift  automobile.  We  cannot  do  this, 
however,  because  a  wise  commander  knows  better  than 
to  announce  beforehand  the  time  of  an  inspection.  He 
is  anxious  to  find  things  as  they  are  when  his  back  is 
turned,  not  as  they  are  likely  to  be  when  he  is  expected. 
Since  we  cannot  accompany  the  Commissioner  on  his 
rounds,  let  us  do  the  next  best  thing  and  follow  his  men 
as  they  go  about  their  work. 

It  is  a  night  in  November,  and  the  city  streets  are 
dark  and  deserted.  The  air  feels  frosty.  From  an  un- 
seen clock  in  a  tall  steeple,  there  come  three  long,  slow 
strokes.  A  sweeper,  plying  his  broom  on  the  pavement, 
looks  up  for  a  moment  and  then  along  the  avenue 
that  stretches  away  from  him  like  a  silent  river.  On 
either  side  it  is  shut  in  by  buildings  which  seem  as  fast 
asleep  as  the  men  and  women  within  their  dark  walls. 
Outlining  the  curbs  are  twin  rows  of  twinkling  street 


WITH  THE  STREET  CLEANERS        1 17 

lamps.  Their  posts  are  planted  at  regular  intervals, 
yet  as  they  march  north  and  south,  the  spaces  between 
them  seem  to  grow  smaller  and  smaller,  until  they 
merge  into  one  long  line  of  silvery  points. 

All  is  very  still  around  our  sweeper,  but  he  is  not 
lonely.  Near  at  hand  are  other  white-clad  sweepers, 
each  busy  with  his 
own  share  of  work. 
The  policeman  pa- 
trolling the  post 
stops  to  speak  a 
friendly  word,  and 
then  passes  onward 
into  the  quiet  night.  A  Sweeper  at  Work 

Our  man  trundles  his  little  cart  further,  pausing  as  he 
goes  to  gather  the  sweepings  and  drop  them  into  his  can. 
It  is  his  first  turn  at  night  duty.  He  rather  likes  it,  he 
thinks.  He  is  an  honest  man,  and  he  takes  a  proper 
pride  in  doing  his  work  well,  no  matter  what  sort  of 
work  it  may  be,  because  it  is  his  work.  When  he  has 
swept  a  stretch  of  street  he  likes  to  look  back  over  it 
and  see  it  bare  and  spotless  as  a  new  board. 

"  Nothing  to  be  ashamed  of  there,  I  think,"  he  says 
to  himself.  Then  he  turns  to  his  sweeping  again,  skill- 
fully capturing  every  bit  of  dirt,  every  stray  scrap  of 
paper.  His  orders  are  to  clean  the  street,  and  since  that 
means  to  clear  it  of  dirt,  he  will  not  let  the  dirt  get  the 


Il8      THE  STREET  CLEANING  DEPARTMENT 

better  of  him.  To-night  there  is  plenty  of  dirt  wait- 
ing for  him.  It  is  Election  time  and  there  have  been 
many  bonfires.  Charred  wood  and  burned  straw  lie 
scattered  over  the  pavement,  and  heaps  of  blackened 
ashes  half  hide  the  dull,  red  glow  of  embers  still  smol- 
dering. 

As  he  stamps  out  the  last  sparks  and  spreads  the  dead 
embers  to  cool,  he  wonders  whether  the  boys  who 
found  the  bonfires  such  fun,  gave  a  single  thought  to 
the  men  whose  business  it  is  to  clean  the  streets,  and 
whose  work  has  been  made  so  much  harder.  As  he 
shovels  the  dirt  into  his  can,  he  shakes  his  head  at 
the  scorched  asphalt  beneath.  "A  hole  here,  before 
long,"  he  says  to  himself;  "and  it  costs  money  to  mend 
it.  No  wonder  taxes  are  heavy  when  people  care  so 
little  for  city  property!" 

In  the  daytime,  after  the  city's  traffic  has  begun, 
the  sweeper's  work  is  different.  Vegetable  sellers  drop 
greens  from  their  wagons  as  they  drive  over  streets 
freshly  swept  by  the  night  force.  Little  consideration 
do  they  show  for  the  man  in  white  who  steps  aside  to 
let  them  pass,  and  for  whom  they  are  constantly  mak- 
ing extra  work.  The  citizens  on  their  way  to  work  are 
no  better.  They  drop  fruit  skins  as  they  go  by,  toss 
newspapers  aside  without  caring  where  they  fall,  and 
tear  up  letters,  scattering  the  pieces  right  and  left. 

Children,  on  their  way  to  school,  copy  the  bad  man- 


WITH  THE  STREET  CLEANERS 


ners  of  their  elders,  and  banana  and  orange  peels,  and 
scraps  of  torn  lesson-papers  mark  their  path.  All  this 
is  very  provoking  to  the  street  sweeper  trying  to  do  his 
duty.  It  undoes  his  most  careful  work,  and  unless  he 
gathers  up  the  litter  very  quickly,  it  may  bring  him  a 
reproof  from  the  foreman  who  may  ride  up  on  his 
bicycle  at  any  moment. 

Here  and  there  he  finds  worse  things  upon  the  street 
than  papers,  fruit  skins,  and  stray  greens  from  vegetable 
wagons.  Under  cover  of  the  darkness  of  early  morning, 
certain  people  will  do  things  they  would  not  attempt 
to  do  in  full  daylight,  for  fear  of  being  found  out. 
They  fling  rubbish  and  garbage  from  their  windows, 
and  they  cast  old  shoes,  broken  furniture,  and  worn-out 
mattresses  into  the  street.  They  are  well  aware  that 
such  stuff  ought  to  be  kept  until  the  collector  calls  for 
it.  Rather  than  wait  for  his  call,  they  spoil  the  looks 
of  their  own  city,  and  they  give  its  sweepers  the  extra 
and  unnecessary  work  of  gathering  up  the  litter  they 
make.  Some  time,  however,  they  will  do  it  once  too 
often,  and  the  police  will  catch  them  at  it  and  arrest 
them. 

Every  rubbish  collector  in  New  York  tries  to  get  his 
rounds  finished  early  in  the  day.  He  cannot  work  as 
quickly  as  the  collectors  of  garbage  and  of  ashes.  His 
wagon  is  larger,  because  of  the  bulky  stuff  he  gathers, 
and  it  takes  longer  to  fill  it.  He  must  ring  at  every  door 


I2O 


THE  STREET  CLEANING  DEPARTMENT 


where  he  sees  the  signal  for  rubbish,  and  people  are 
not  always  prompt  to  open  for  him.  Then  lazy  or 
careless  people  who  have  neglected  to  tie  the  loose 
rubbish  in  bundles,  waste  his  time  trying  to  induce  him 


Collecting  Rubbish 

to  take  it  from  them  loose.  They  scold  him  when  he 
refuses,  though  they  know  it  is  against  the  law  for  him 
to  take  it  or  for  them  to  give  it  in  loose  form. 

t  From  house  to  house  the  rubbish  man  goes,  and  from 
street  to  street,  until  his  big  wagon  is  filled.  Then  he 
drives  it  to  the  dump  over  on  the  river  front.  Here 
the  rubbish,  together  with  that  brought  by  other  col- 
lectors, is  thoroughly  disinfected.  That  is,  it  is  treated 
in  such  a  manner  that  it  cannot  injure  the  health  of 
those  who  have  to  handle  it.  After  this  disinfection,  it  is 
passed  along  on  a  broad  moving  belt,  while  men  stand- 
ing on  either  side  of  it,  pick  out  from  the  mass  the 


WITH    THE    STREET    CLEANERS 


121 


things  which  can  be  used.  What  remains  after  the 
trimmers  have  finished,  is  sent  to  the  furnaces  to  be 
burned,  as  was  told  in  the  last  chapter. 


"  Men  pick  out  the  things  which  can  be  used  " 

The  men  who  collect  the  garbage  have  what  might 
be  considered  an  unpleasant  job.  They  probably  do 
not  look  at  it  as  you  do.  Some  one  must  do  the  work; 
why  not  they  as  well  as  others  ?  After  all,  it  is  not  what 
a  man  does,  but  how  he  does  it,  that  counts,  so  long  as 
the  work  is  honest.  Soldiers  join  the  army  expecting 
to  do  great  things.  Yet  not  even  in  war  time  can  every 
man  go  to  the  front.  Some  must  stay  behind  to  do  the 


122      THE  STREET  CLEANING  DEPARTMENT 

cooking,  the  cleaning,  and  the  other  camp  duties.  Do 
you  think  that  the  doing  of  the  camp  housework  makes 
any  one  of  them  less  of  a  soldier?  No,  indeed.  For  he 
who  does  well  that  duty  to  which  he  is  called,  though 
it  be  of  the  humblest,  is  making  himself  fit  for  the  better 
things  which  the  future  holds  in  store  for  him. 

The  ashman  needs  a  strong  back  and  muscular  arms 
for  his  work.  It  is  no  little  matter  to  lift  the  heavy 
ash  cans  from  the  sidewalk  and  empty  them  into  the 
cart,  and  keep  on  doing  so  for  hours.  In  front  of  big 
buildings  he  finds  a  dozen  or  more  such  cans  all  ranged 
in  line  and  waiting  for  him.  Tirelessly  he  attacks  them, 
one  by  one,  and  with  a  single  deft  swing  tosses  the  con- 
tents of  each  over  the  rim  of  his  cart.  As  he  works,  he 
jokes  with  the  janitor  who  stands  waiting  to  return  the 
empty  cans  to  the  cellar.  But  his  joking  changes  to  an- 
ger when  he  finds  a  can  filled  to  the  brim.  The  janitor 
knows  that  the  law  forbids  filling  a  can  to  the  top.  It 
is  heavy  enough  without  such  over-filling,  and  when  the 
can  is  full  to  the  top,  there  is  danger  of  spilling  the  ashes 
upon  the  sidewalk. 

Farther  down  the  street  the  ashman  again  has  cause 
to  find  fault.  Some  one  has  put  garbage  and  ashes  into 
the  same  can,  and  has  hidden  the  mixture  under  a  top 
layer  of  ashes.  This  is  against  the  law,  and  it  is  unfair 
to  the  ashman.  He  is  not  allowed  to  mix  the  two  classes 
of  dirt  in  his  cart.  When  he  finds  he  has  emptied  a 


WITH  THE  STREET  CLEANERS 


I23 


barrel  of  mixed  stuff  into  it,  he  must  shovel  the  garbage 
out  again,  and  put  it  back  into  the  barrel  it  came  from. 
This  takes  up  his  time,  and  gives  him  wholly  unnec- 
essary work.  Can  you  blame  him  for  scolding  when 
he  finds  some  one  trying  the  trick  on  him,  or  for  re- 
fusing to  take  away  the  mixed  material  ? 


Collecting  Waste  in  Vienna 

Not  all  Street  Cleaning  Departments  make  it  so  easy 
for  the  citizens  to  get  rid  of  their  waste  as  does  the 
Department  in  New  York.  In  Vienna,  for  example, 
every  person  must  carry  his  or  her  own  household  waste 
direct  to  the  cart.  A  bell  is  rung  to  announce  the  col- 
lector's coming,  and  the  citizens  come  hurrying  from 


124      THE  STREET  CLEANING  DEPARTMENT 

their  houses,  carrying  pails  and  barrels  full  of  house- 
hold waste,  and  wait  for  their  turn  to  empty  them  into 
the  collector's  cart.  They  are  not  allowed  to  rest  their 
heavy  loads  upon  the  street  or  sidewalk  for  a  single 
moment,  lest  they  soil  it.  This  is  no  easy  task,  es- 
pecially for  women,  but  it  certainly  makes  for  clean 
streets.  Here  at  home,  where  the  Street  Cleaning  De- 
partment relieves  the  citizens  of  this  disagreeable  duty, 
should  they  not  be  all  the  more  ready  to  do  their  part 
to  keep  the  streets  clean  ?  What  this  part  is,  and  how 
they  can  best  do  it,  we  must  leave  for  the  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

HOW   CITIZENS    CAN   HELP   THE    STREET   CLEANING 
DEPARTMENT 

In  our  fight  against  dirt,  the  two  weapons,  cleaning 
and  keeping  things  clean,  are  like  the  two  halves  of  a 
hinge,  or  of  a  pair  of  scissors.  Each  is  necessary  to  the 
other,  for  each  is  useless  without  the  other,  where  good 
results  are  wanted.  This  is  true  everywhere;  in  your 
home,  in  your  school,  in  your  father's  place  of  business, 
and  in  the  streets  of  your  city. 

Citizens  are  not  expected  to  clean  the  streets,  but  it 
is  their  duty  to  keep  them  clean.  The  careless  citizen 
who  litters  the  street  with  refuse,  may  perhaps  excuse 
himself  to  his  own  conscience  with  the  thought:  "It 
does  not  matter.  It  is  the  business  of  the  Street  Clean- 
ing Department  to  clear  it  up.  That  is  what  the  men 
are  paid  for."  But  this  is  no  excuse  for  his  misconduct. 
It  is  true  that  the  city  pays  men  to  clean  the  streets,  but 
how  can  the  streets  stay  clean,  if  the  people  do  not 
try  their  best  to  keep  them  so?  Every  man,  woman, 
and  child  is  expected  to  do  his  or  her  share  in  keeping 
the  streets  of  the  city  clean.  If  they  fail  to  do  so,  one 

end  of  a  freshly  swept  street  may  be  littered  over  even 

125 


126      THE  STREET  CLEANING  DEPARTMENT 

before  the  sweepers  have  reached  the  other  end.  The 
duty  of  keeping  the  streets  clean  does  not  mean  that  the 
citizens  should  join  the  sweepers  in  their  work.  It 
means  that  they  should  keep  from  making  the  streets 
dirty  by  throwing  papers,  fruit  skins,  nut  shells,  and 
other  waste  material  upon  the  pavement.  Surely  this 
is  not  too  much  to  ask! 

All  citizens  ought  to  take  enough  pride  in  the  appear- 
ance of  their  own  city,  to  do  everything  in  their  power 
to  improve  it.  Cleanly  people  never  dream  of  throwing 
scraps  of  paper,  cigar  ends,  or  fruit  parings  upon  the 
floor  at  home,  yet  some  of  them  will  deliberately  do  so 
upon  the  floor  of  their  city.  There  is  no  excuse  for 
such  carelessness  in  persons  who  know  better;  and  the 
ones  who  do  not  know  better  cannot  learn  too  soon. 

Good  housekeepers  set  a  trash  basket  in  the  corner 
of  the  room  to  receive  such  litter.  Imitating  their  ex- 
ample, the  Street  Cleaning  Department  has  placed 
rubbish  boxes  at  different  corners  in  the  streets,  and 
citizens  are  expected  to  throw  papers,  fruit  skins,  and 
other  light  refuse  into  them,  exactly  as  they  would  into 
the  trash  basket  at  home. 

Scattering  refuse  in  the  street  is  a  sign  of  bad  breed- 
ing; it  is  also  forbidden  by  law.  People  who  do  it  are 
a  disgrace  to  themselves  and  to  their  neighborhood. 
They  fully  deserve  the  punishment  the  law  has  fixed 
for  this  offense.  All  of  us  have  seen  the  pavement 


HOW  CITIZENS  CAN  HELP  12  7 

littered  with  refuse  of  a  worse  character  than  paper  or 
fruit  skins,  and  it  is  a  shame  to  our  city  to  have  to  admit 
that  we  have  sometimes  seen  it  thrown  there  willfully. 
I  speak  now  of  the  slovenly  housekeepers  who  toss  gar- 
bage from  their  kitchens  into  the  street,  or  into  some 
neighbor's  yard.  You  may  be  sure  they  never  do  it 
when  the  policeman  is  about,  for  they  know  very  well 
what  he  will  do  if  he  catches  them  at  it.  They  have 
no  right  to  do  it  at  any  time,  and  the  person  who  sees 
them  breaking  the  law  in  this  way,  should  report  the 
matter  to  the  Board  of  Health. 


The  Fish  Market  under  Williamsburg  Bridge,  New  York 

Worse  even  than  the  slovenly  housekeepers  are  the 
men  who  sell  fish  or  vegetables  from  wagons  or  push 
carts  and  drop  the  refuse  from  their  stock  upon  the 
pavements.  Yet  they  are  the  very  ones  who  should  be 


128 


THE  STREET  CLEANING  DEPARTMENT 


most  careful  to  keep  the  streets  clean,  since  they  do 
business  in  them,  free  of  charge,  to  save  paying  rent  as 
others  must  do  for  a  store.  Surely  it  would  be  a  simple 
matter  for  these  men  to  collect  every  scrap  of  refuse 
which  falls  from  their  goods,  and  keep  it  in  a  covered 
box  or  barrel  until  they  can  get  rid  of  it  in  the  right 
way.  Moreover,  it  would  be  the  fair  and  right  thing 
to  do,  if  only  to  show  their  thanks  for  being  allowed  to 
sell  goods  in  the  public  streets. 


Sweeping  Machine 

Like  all  careful  housekeepers,  the  Street  Cleaning  De- 
partment of  New  York  likes  to  get  its  work  done  early 
in  the  morning.  The  sweepers  remove  the  heaviest  dirt 
from  the  streets  at  night.  There  is  less  traffic  at  that 
time,  and  the  work  can  be  done  better  and  more  quickly 
than  during  the  day.  The  men  use  sweeping  machines 


HOW  CITIZENS   CAN  HELP  I2Q 

first,  and  then  flush  the  pavement  with  clean  water. 
When  daylight  comes  the  regular  sweepers  go  over  the 
same  streets,  and  gather  up  with  brooms  and  scrapers 
whatever  may  have  escaped  the  machines. 

The  collectors  of  ashes,  garbage,  and  rubbish  also 
make  their  rounds  in  the  morning,  and  the  citizens  who 
have  waste  to  be  taken  away,  are  expected  to  have  it 
ready  for  them.  They  must  have  the  barrels  and  cans  of 
ashes  and  garbage  standing  near  the  house,  and  covered 
over  to  prevent  the  escape  of  dust  and  odors.  They 
must  keep  their  rubbish  indoors, 
and  hang  out  the  little  red  sign 
provided  by  the  city  to  let  the  col- 
lector know  it  is  ready  for  him. 
Truly  this  is  little  enough  to  ask 
the  citizens  to  do,  in  return  for 
the  removal  of  the  waste  from 

.     .  ,  ,    ,  ,     !  j  Rubbish  Sign 

their  own  shops  and  households. 
Yet  unless  they  do  it — and  there  are  some  who  neglect 
these  light  duties — it  is  impossible  to  keep  the  city 
streets  clean. 

The  collectors  of  waste  are  under  orders  to  be  care- 
ful that  none  of  it  falls  to  the  pavement.  The  citizens 
can  help  here,  by  seeing  that  their  boxes  and  barrels 
are  whole,  not  broken,  and  that  they  are  not  filled  too 
full.  When  a  collector's  cart  is  full,  he  must  fit  a  cover 
over  the  top  of  it  and  take  it  directly  to  the  dump  for 

Citizenship — 9 


130      THE  STREET  CLEANING  DEPARTMENT 

the  section  to  which  he  belongs.  He  is  not  allowed  to 
loiter  on  the  way,  and  he  must  walk  his  horse  the  whole 
distance.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  trotting  jolts  the 
wagon,  sets  the  dust  flying,  and  leaves  behind  an  un- 
tidy trail  of  ashes,  paper,  or  garbage.  You  see  from 
this,  how  very  careful  the  Department  is  of  details,  and 
how  its  rules  are  meant  to  keep  the  city  clean  as  well 
as  to  make  it  clean. 

These  rules,  whether  made  for  the  men  of  the  De- 
partment or  for  the  citizens,  may  appear  very  trifling 
to  you;  but  when  it  comes  to  the  important  question 
of  a  city's  safety  and  cleanliness,  even  trifles  count  for 
much  in  the  general  result.  Cinder  dust  is  surely  a 
trifle;  but  a  speck  of  it  blown  from  an  overflowing  ash 
can  into  a  person's  eye  may  do  a  lasting  injury.  A  bit 
of  orange  or  banana  peel  is  a  trifle;  but  if  carelessly 
thrown  into  the  street  upon  a  damp  pavement,  it  may 
endanger  life  or  limb  for  the  one  whose  foot  slips  upon 
it.  A  sheet  of  newspaper  lying  in  the  street  is  another 
trifle;  but  if  a  gust  of  wind  sends  it  flying  into  the  face 
of  a  horse,  it  may  start  a  runaway,  and  do  serious 
damage  to  life  or  property. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

HOW  YOUNG  CITIZENS  CAN  HELP  THE  STREET  CLEANING 
DEPARTMENT 

There  is  a  maxim  which  appeals  to  every  American 
heart,  not  only  because  of  its  truth,  but  because  it  is 
so  closely  connected  with  the  growth  of  our  own  great 
nation.  Some  of  you  may  already  know  the  maxim, 
and  the  rest  of  you  should  learn  and  remember  it. 

IN  UNION  THERE  IS  STRENGTH. 

These  five  short  words  are  brimful  of  solid  truth, 
and  they  form  an  excellent  maxim  for  children  to  keep 
in  mind,  whenever  they  wish  to  do  a  thing  which  seems 
beyond  their  power. 

A  chain  is  stronger  than  a  rope  of  the  same  thickness; 
yet  it  is  only  a  number  of  little  links  joined  together, 
each  useless  in  itself  and  of  no  value  without  the  others. 
All  of  you  have,  no  doubt,  seen  cloth  so  firm  that  you 
could  not  tear  it.  Ravel  it  along  a  cut  edge,  and  you 
will  find  the  cloth  woven  of  a  number  of  single  threads, 
each  so  frail  that  you  can  break  it  between  your  fingers. 
One  boy  or  one  girl  may  not  be  able  to  do  very  much  in 
matters  of  importance,  such,  for  example,  as  improving 


THE  STREET  CLEANING  DEPARTMENT 


the  looks  of  a  city.  But  let  a  number  of  them  join 
together,  all  earnestly  working  for  the  same  end,  and 
you  will  find  they  can  do  a  great  deal. 

Do  you  live  in  a  neighborhood  where  careless  people 
are  constantly  throwing  refuse  into  the  streets?  where 

the  ash  barrels  are  always  over- 
flowing upon  the   walk   where 
they  stand  ?  where  the 
garbage     vessels     are 
leaky     and    unclean  ? 
where      the      street 
cleaners  sometimes 
forget  to  come  ?  or 
where,  when    they 
do  arrive,  their  work  is  quickly 
spoiled  and  made  useless  by  the 
carelessness  of  the  people  them- 
selves ? 

Should  you  not  like  things  to  be  just  a  little  better? 
Are  you  not  willing  to  do  all  you  can  to  improve  the 
looks  of  the  block  where  you  live  ?  Do  you  not  wish 
to  have  it  rank  as  the  cleanest  in  the  whole  neighbor- 
hood ?  I  am  sure  you  do ;  but  being  only  a  child  you 
feel  helpless  about  doing  any  good  in  this  direction. 
Even  to  attempt  to  keep  the  street  clean  in  front  of 
your  own  house  would,  you  fear,  be  as  useless  as  trying 
to  sweep  back  a  river  with  a  broom.  So  it  would  be, 


where  the  ash  barrels 
are  overflowing" 


HOW    YOUNG    CITIZENS    CAN   HELP  133 

if  you  stood  alone;  but  do  not  be  discouraged.  There 
is  a  way  in  which  you  can  help. 

Let  me  ask  you  a  few  questions.  How  about  the 
little  links  which,  when  joined  together,  form  a  strong 
chain?  How  about  the  frail  threads  which,  when 
woven  together,  make  firm  cloth?  How  about  the 
company  of  firemen  which  can  put  out  a  big  fire,  where 
one  fireman,  fighting  alone,  .would  be  helpless?  How 
about  the  troop  of  policemen  who  set  free  the  tangled 
mass  of  horses  and  trucks  that  afternoon  on  West 
Street,  where  a  single  policeman  attempting  the  task 
could  have  done  nothing  ?  Finally,  what  do  you  think 
of  a  number  of  children  banded  together  in  a  big  Civic 
Club  or  League?  or,  if  you  prefer  it,  in  several  small 
clubs,  all  having  the  same  aim,  and  all  working  along 
the  same  general  lines? 

Do  you  not  think  a  club  of  children  could  do  a  great 
deal  of  good  if  all  the  members  worked  together  toward 
the  same  end  ?  If  you  are  doubtful  let  me  tell  you  that 
bands  of  boys  and  girls  have  done  great  work  in  this 
way,  and  in  this  very  field  of  street  cleaning.  The  re- 
sults were  so  remarkable  that  the  gentleman  who  was 
at  that  time  the  Commissioner  of  the  New  York  Street 
Cleaning  Department,  thanked  the  young  workers  per- 
sonally and  in  public  several  times. 

I  shall  tell  you  more  about  this,  a  little  farther  on. 
Meanwhile,  let  me  say  that  the  children  of  to-day  can 


134      THE  STREET  CLEANING  DEPARTMENT 

do  equally  good  work  for  the  city  if  they  band  them- 
selves together  for  the  purpose.  Suppose  you  who 
read  this  book,  talk  it  over  with  the  other  children  living 
near  you.  Do  you  not  think  you  could  get  them  to 
work  with  you  in  an  attempt  to  keep  your  own  block, 
let  us  say,  looking  neater  than  any  other  one  in  its 
neighborhood  ?  If  you  live  in  a  block  of  private  houses 
you  will  find  your  work  far  easier  than  in  a  block  where 
several  families  live  in  each  house.  Yet,  in  flat  houses 
and  tenements  there  will  be  many  more  children,  and 
the  larger  a  union  is,  the  greater  is  its  strength,  pro- 
vided every  member  of  it  does  his  full  duty. 

If  the  janitors  or  housekeepers  on  your  block  are 
careless ;  if  the  barrels  and  boxes  before  their  doors  look 
untidy;  or  if  they  set  them  out  too  late  for  the  collector 
to  empty  as  he  goes  by,  as  a  member  of  your  Civic  Club 
you  can  speak  to  them  about  it  in  private.  You  can 
tell  them  in  a  kind  and  polite  way  the  object  of  your 
club,  and  ask  them  to  help  by  being  more  careful. 

Should  people  on  your  block  dare  to  go  so  far  in 
wrongdoing,  as  to  throw  garbage  or  rubbish  into  the 
street,  find  out  who  the  offenders  are.  Then  speak  to 
them  about  it  in  a  pleasant  way;  explain  that  it  is 
against  the  law,  and  appeal  to  them  to  obey  the  law. 
Tell  them  what  your  club  is  aiming  to  do,  and  perhaps 
you  may  awaken  in  them  a  spark  of  civic  pride.  Who 
knows  ?  Should  this  plan  fail,  then  let  your  club  give 


HOW    YOUNG    CITIZENS    CAN    HELP  135 

the  offenders'  names  to  the  officer  who  is  in  charge  of 
the  street  sweepers  in  your  neighborhood,  and  he  will 
speedily  put  a  stop  to  their  untidiness,  as  far  as  the 
street  is  concerned. 

Guarding  the  streets  from  the  carelessness  of  grown- 
up citizens  is,  however,  only  a  part  of  the  good  work 
children's  civic  clubs  can  accomplish.  There  is  another 
duty  that  young  citizens  must  discharge.  They  must 
pay  due  regard  to  the  appearance  of  public  property. 
To  mark  with  knife,  chalk,  or  pencil,  or  in  any  other 
way  to  deface  walls,  walks,  fences,  buildings,  or  other 
property,  not  only  helps  to  make  the  streets  unclean 
and  unsightly,  but  also  injures  the  property  of  an- 
other. Whether  that  other  is  the  city  or  a  private 
owner  makes  no  difference.  Think  how  much  good 
would  result,  if  all  of  us  were  always  as  careful  of  the 
property  of  others  as  of  our  own!  This  is  an  excellent 
field  in  which  children's  civic  clubs  can  do  good  work: 
but  the  members  must  keep  as  close  a  watch  upon  them- 
selves as  upon  the  other  children  in  the  neighborhood. 

Not  very  many  years  ago,  a  number  of  children  of 
New  York  city  took  up  civic  work  in  deep  earnest. 
They  did  a  great  deal  of  good  work;  so  much,  in- 
deed, that  the  Commissioner  of  the  Street  Cleaning 
Department  praised  them  highly.  He  went  further; 
he  gave  each  of  the  active  workers  a  badge,  and  also 
an  engraved  certificate,  stating  that  he,  or  she,  had  been 


136     THE  STREET  CLEANING  DEPARTMENT 

accepted  as  a  Volunteer  Aid  of  the  Department,  and 
instructing  every  officer  and  man  in  the  force  to  treat 

him  or  her  with  proper  con- 
sideration and  respect. 

These  clubs  were  known  as 
The  Juvenile  Street  Cleaning 
Leagues,  and  they  did  their 
best  work  in  the  crowded  sec- 
tions of  the  city.  The  major- 
ity of  the  people  living  there 

Volunteer's  Badge  ^jj   ^   ^^   ETigll^   and 

very  probably  had  never  heard  of  civic  pride.  Work- 
ing all  day  and  far  into  the  night  in  order  to  make  a 
living,  these  newcomers  in  our  country  had  no  time  to 
read  the  city  ordinances,  or  even  to  give  them  a  thought. 
It  was  in  their  part  of  the  city  that  the  children,  work- 
ing together  in  their  leagues,  accomplished  the  most 
good.  Without  being  aware  of  it,  they  set  an  excellent 
and  lasting  example  to  children  all  over  the  country. 
Hundreds  of  small  towns  and  villages,  as  well  as  cities, 
are  to-day  the  cleaner,  the  healthier  and  the  happier, 
because  of  this  example. 

Conditions  differ  in  different  parts  of  a  city,  of  course. 
In  every  part,  however,  a  league  of  children  can  do 
good  and  effective  work,  and  can  help  make  the  streets 
clean  and  attractive  to  the  eye,  instead  of  dirty  and  un- 
pleasant to  look  upon.  The  dozen  "  Don't "  rules  which 


HOW    YOUNG    CITIZENS    CAN    HELP  137 

follow,  will,  if  memorized,  serve  to  remind  the  children's 
civic  clubs  of  their  special  object,  and  do  much  to  help 
the  members  gain  their  end.  These  rules  should  be 
observed  by  all,  whether  members  of  a  civic  club  or 
not. 

1.  Don't  throw  anything  into  the  street  or  on  the 
sidewalk.    A  rubbish  box  is  not  far  away. 

2.  Don't  throw  away  banana  skins.    They  are  slip- 
pery things  and  may  cause  some  one  to  fall.    Give  them 
to  a  horse,  for  horses  like  them. 

3.  Don't  tear  up  waste  paper  and  scatter  it  any- 
where. 

4.  Don't  chalk  the  fences,  the  sidewalk,  the  build- 
ings, or  the  pavements. 

5.  Don't  deface  park  benches,  school  furniture,  or 
any  other  public  property. 

6.  Don't  fill  the  ash  barrel  and  garbage  pail  too  full. 

7.  Don't  build  bonfires.     They  burn  wood  which 
some  one  would  be  glad  to  use.    They  injure  the  pave- 
ment.    They  leave  untidy  ashes  behind.     They  make 
extra  work  for  the  street  sweepers.     They  often  cause 
a  fire. 

8.  Don't   throw  water   into   the   streets   in  frosty 
weather.    It  will  freeze  and  cause  passers-by  to  fall. 

9.  Don't  scatter  the  heaps  of  sand  and  cinders 
which  lie  in  front  of  buildings  being  newly  erected. 

10.  Don't  throw  anything  into  the  sewers, 


138      THE  STREET  CLEANING  DEPARTMENT 

11.  Don't  build  dams  in  the  gutters  or  try  to  stop 
the  water  from  flowing  into  the  sewer. 

12.  Don't  touch  the  fire  hydrants  or  the  alarm  boxes. 
If  they  are  out  of  order  when  fire  breaks  out,  it  will  lead 
to  serious  danger. 

A  pledge  of  some  sort  is  usually  exacted  as  a  con- 
dition of  membership  in  a  club.  The  following  has 
been  found  an  excellent  one  for  the  civic  clubs  formed 
by  children  in  New  York.  With  slight  changes,  it 
will  answer  elsewhere  as  well. 

CIVIC  PLEDGE 

"  We  who  are  soon  to  be  citizens  of  New  York,  the 
largest  city  on  the  American  continent,  desire  to  have 
her  possess  a  name  that  is  above  reproach.  We  there- 
fore agree  to  refrain  from  littering  her  streets,  and  as 
far  as  possible  prevent  others  from  doing  so,  in  order 
that  our  city  may  be  as  clean  as  she  is  great,  and  as 
pure  as  she  is  free." 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH 

Healthy  citizens  are  a  credit  to  their  city.  Unhealthy 
ones  show  that  something  is  wrong,  either  with  the  land 
on  which  the  city  is  built,  with  the  water  its  people  drink, 
with  the  food  they  eat,  or  with  the  way  in  which  they 
live.  It  is  true  that  most  people  take  care  of  their  own 
health  and  of  that  of  their  children,  for  their  own  sake. 
This  does  much  toward  keeping  them  well,  but  more 
than  this  is  needed.  No  matter  how  careful  they  may 
be,  illness  will  enter  their  houses  now  and  again,  and 
often  through  no  fault  of  their  own. 

The  illness  may  be  contagious ;  that  is,  such  as  is  com- 
monly called  "  catching."  Diseases  of  this  kind  spread 
rapidly  when  nothing  is  done  to  check  them.  They 
are  carried  from  family  to  family,  and  from  house  to 
house,  throughout  whole  neighborhoods.  You  must 
have  heard  of  " catching"  diseases,  for  they  attack 
children  oftener  than  they  attack  grown  people. 

There  are  many  different  diseases  which  spread  from 
one  person  to  another  unless  great  care  is  taken  to  pre- 
vent it.  The  most  frequent  ones  are  whooping  cough, 
measles,  scarlet  fever,  diphtheria,  croup,  and  certain 

139 


146        THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH 

diseases  of  the  eyes,  ears,  skin,  and  scalp.  Wherever 
any  of  these  illnesses  occur,  the  people  should  do  all 
they  can  to  prevent  their  spread.  But  some  people  are 
careless  even  in  so  important  a  matter,  and  the  most 
careful  ones  cannot  always  prevent  disease  from  spread- 
ing to  others.  Therefore  the  city  that  is  well  governed 
appoints  special  people  to  do  what  is  necessary  to  pre- 
vent the  spread  of  disease.  You 'shall  learn  in  another 
chapter  just  what  they  do. 

There  are  many  diseases,  not  always  contagious, 
which  attack  people  who  dwell  close  together  in  cities. 
They  are  caused  by  unhealthful  conditions  existing  in 
the  houses  or  in  the  public  buildings;  by  sickening 
odors  from  factories  or  shops  which  handle  offensive 
material,  and  in  this  way  poison  the  air  the  people 
must  breathe;  by  the  eating  of  food  which  is  unwhole- 
some; by  the  drinking  of  impure  milk  or  water;  and  by 
the  use  of  harmful  drugs  and  medicines.  Such  dis- 
eases are  known  as  preventable  diseases,  because  they 
may  be  prevented  by  proper  care  on  the  part  of  the 
city  government. 

Other  kinds  of  illness  are  directly  due  to  neglect 
and  to  overwork  in  childhood.  Certain  growths  often 
form  in  the  throat  and  nose  of  a  child.  Unless  dis- 
covered in  time  and  removed,  they  will  lead  to  disease 
later  on  in  life.  .The  same  thing  is  true  of  other  troubles 
that  are  quite  as  easy  to  cure  as  the  growths,  if  they  are 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH         141 

but  attended  to  in  time.  But  the  parents  of  the  unfor- 
tunate child  often  do  not  know  that  anything  is. wrong; 
the  trouble  is  therefore  neglected  until  it  causes  serious 
illness. 

Overwork,  before  a  child's  body  is  old  enough  to 
stand  the  strain,  is  certain  to  make  trouble  sooner  or 
later.  Young  boys  and  girls  are  often  anxious  to  go  to 
work  in  order  to  do  their  share  toward  supporting  the 
family.  But  work  is  not  good  for  them,  and  it  should 
not  be  permitted.  Even  when  they  are  old  enough  to 
work,  their  working  hours  should  be  in  daylight  only, 
and  so  arranged  that  they  leave  the  young  workers 
enough  free  time  for  rest  and  for  a  bit  of  healthful  play. 

Accidents  do  much  to  increase  the  cases  of  illness 
in  a  city.  Citizens  may  be  injured  arid  made  ill  through 
falling  upon  icy  pavements  or  into  unprotected  openings 
in  the  street.  They  may  be  hurt  by  stumbling  over 
boxes  or  other  obstructions  left  on  sidewalks  or  on  stair- 
ways. They  may  be  seriously  harmed,  even  killed, 
because  of  carelessness  on  the  part  of  men  driving  cars, 
wagons,  or  automobiles,  or  through  the  reckless  use  of 
blasting  materials,  fireworks,  and  fire-arms. 

Surely  all  these  make  a  very  long  list  of  illnesses, 
each  one  of  which  may  be  largely  prevented  by  using 
the  proper  precautions. 

It  is  within  the  power  of  a  city  to  protect  its  citizens 
from  all  diseases  which  may  be  prevented.  This  is  a 


142 


THE   DEPARTMENT   OF   HEALTH 


most  important  duty,  and  it  requires  a  separate  de- 
partment to  attend  to  it.  In  New  York  the  Mayor  ap- 
points a  Commissioner  of  Health  to  take  charge  of 
this  department.  This  officer  is  assisted  by  the  Com- 
missioner of  Police  and  by  the  Health  Officer  of  the 

Port,  who  has  con- 
trol over  the  ships 
which  sail  in  and 
out  of  the  waters 
surrounding  New 
York.  Together 
these  three  officers 
form  the  Board  of 
Health,  a  powerful 
body  whose  rules 
must  be  obeyed  by 
every  person  in  the 
city,  from  highest  to 
lowest. 

It  is  the  duty  of 
the  Health  Officer  of  the  Port  to  guard  the  city  from 
disease  brought  to  it  from  outside.  He  has  the  right 
to  forbid  ships  to  land  passengers,  crew,  or  cargo 
until  he  has  made  sure  they  are  bringing  in  no  germs 
of  disease.  Every  vessel  coming  to  the  city  must 
anchor  in  the  harbor  and  await  the  doctor  sent  by 
the  Health  Officer  of  the  Port  to  inspect  it.  Unless  it 


Every  vessel  must  await  the  doctor 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH        143 

can  show  a  clean  bill  of  health,  which  means  that  there 
is  no  contagious  illness  on  board,  it  is  not  permitted  to 
come  nearer  shore  till  all  the  people  ill  with  the  dis- 
ease have  been  removed  to  a  special  hospital. 

The  first  duty  of  the  Department  of  Health  is  to 
guard  the  citizens  from  illness  which  may  be  prevented. 
Consequently  it  watches  everything  which  may  cause 
illness,  and  it  forbids  whatever  is  injurious  to  the 
health  of  the  people.  It  has  the  right  to  make  rules 
which  the  citizens  must  obey  even  when  they  seem 
harsh  or  unfair,  or  interfere  with  business  or  pleasure. 
These  rules,  taken  together,  form  the  Sanitary  Code, 
or  general  health  laws  of  the  city. 

To  enforce  this  code  the  Department  sends  its  in- 
spectors into  every  nook  and  corner  of  the  city.  These 
officers  search  houses,  workshops,  and  factories,  when- 
ever they  have  reason  to  believe  unsanitary  (unhealth- 
ful)  conditions  exist,  or  that  a  case  of  contagious  disease 
is  foolishly  being  concealed.  I  say  " foolishly''  because 
it  is  foolish  as  well  as  criminal  to  try  to  conceal  con- 
tagion. Later  on  we  shall  see  why. 

Wherever  the  health  inspectors  find  unsanitary  con- 
ditions, or  anything  else  contrary  to  law,  the  Depart- 
ment orders  the  premises  cleaned,  repaired,  or  possi- 
bly vacated,  as  it  deems  best,  and  the  citizens  must 
obey  the  order.  Argument  or  disobedience  is  useless, 
for  the  policemen  of  the  Health  Squad  will  speedily 


144        THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH 

step  in  and  end  the  dispute.    These  officers  wear  a 
red  cross  upon  the  sleeve  of  the  uniform,  because  the 

red  cross  is  the  symbol  of  help 
for  the  ill  or  injured. 

Faulty  plumbing  is  the  cause 
of  much  illness.  It  permits 
gas  from  the  sewers  to  make 
its  way  into  our  homes  and 
poison  the  air  we  breathe.  The 
health  inspector  is  therefore 
careful  to  look  for  loose  joints 
in  the  waste  pipes,  and  for 
a  crack  or  a  break  through 
which  the  sewer  gas  can  es- 

Badge  of  Health  Squad 

cape.  The  Health  Depart- 
ment is  so  very  careful  in  this  regard,  that  it  is  glad 
to  have  the  citizens  give  it  notice,  if  they  think  the 
plumbing  where  they  live  or  work  is  in  need  of  repair. 
The  inspectors  investigate  every  complaint,  even  if  it 
comes  to  them  on  a  postal  card.  Where  they  find  the 
plumbing  poor,  they  order  it  repaired,  or  replaced  by 
new.  They  do  this  also  where  there  are  leaky  gas 
pipes  and  fixtures,  which  are  quite  as  unhealthful  as 
bad  plumbing.  These  are  dangerous  not  only  because 
of  a  possible  explosion,  but  because  the  escaping  gas 
poisons  the  air  in  the  room  and  brings  disease  to  those 
who  breathe  it  for  any  length  of  time. 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH        145 

The  rules  of  the  Sanitary  Code  are  so  important  that 
the  citizens  are  expected  to  know  exactly  what  they 
command  and  what  they  forbid.  To  spread  this  knowl- 
edge the  Department  of  Health  has  had  the  code 
printed,  and  distributes  it  free  of  charge  to  all  who  ask 
for  it.  Every  citizen  should  read  this  code  with  care. 
It  would  show  him  how  very  many  things  the  city 
watches  closely  in  order  to  protect  the  health  of  its  citi- 
zens, and  to  guard  them  from  accidents  as  well  as  from 
preventable  diseases. 

For  example,  the  Sanitary  Code  compels  the  city  rail- 
road companies  to  clean  their  cars  thoroughly  every  day, 
and  it  tells  them  just  how  fast  they  may  run  cars  over 
curves,  and  over  a  straight  track.  It  forbids  them  to 
carry  soiled  linen  in  the  cars,  except  upon  the  front 
platforms.  Does  this  rule  seem  to  you  harsh,  and  likely 
to  hurt  poor  people  most?  It  is  not  meant  to  be  so. 
Like  every  other  wise  law  it  aims  to  do  the  most  good 
to  the  greatest  number.  Soiled  linen  is  not  only  un- 
cleanly in  itself;  it  may  have  come  straight  from  a 
household  where  contagious  illness  exists,  and  it  may 
contain  the  germs  of  some  disease.  These  germs  are 
too  small  to  be  seen  with  the  naked  eye,  but  they  are 
the  means  of  spreading  disease  further  and  further. 
People  are  constantly  going  and  coming  in  cars.  Is  it 
right  to  expose  them  to  disease  in  this  way?  The 
soiled  linen  may  be  free  from  disease  germs,  but  there 

Citizenship — 10 


146        THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH 

is  always  the  chance  that  it  may  be  full  of  them;  and 
people  ignorant  or  careless  enough  to  take  such  linen 
into  the  cars,  are  not  at  all  likely  to  label  it "  contagious." 
This  is  the  reason  for  ordering  such  linen  carried  on 
the  front  platform,  where  it  can  do  least  harm. 

The  best  of  reasons  may  be  found  for  the  rule  which 
forbids  spitting  upon  the  streets,  and  upon  the  floors  of 
public  buildings,  cars,  stations,  factories,  and  work- 
shops, and  all  other  places  where  people  come  and  go. 
The  matter  which  is  expectorated  from  the  mouth 
or  throat  often  contains  disease  germs.  It  dries  where 
it  falls,  or  it  is  carried  into  people's  homes  on  their 
shoes  and  skirts,  and  it  dries  there.  When  dried  it 
floats  about  in  the  air  on  every  breeze  and  people  breathe 
it  into  their  lungs.  Later  they  fall  ill  of  some  disease 
without  knowing  how  or  where  they  got  it.  This  hap- 
pens day  after  day,  and  it  accounts  for  the  many  cases 
of  consumption  among  the  people. 

The  unfortunate  sufferers  spread  the  disease  further 
in  exactly  the  same  way,  without  intending  to  do  so. 
Consumption,  or  tuberculosis,  as  it  should  be  called, 
makes  a  person  cough,  and  the  matter  that  is  raised  in 
coughing  is  full  of  the  disease  germs  and  will  readily 
pass  the  disease  on  to  others.  This  is  reason  enough,  is 
it  not,  for  the  law  which  forbids  spitting  in  public 
places?  It  may  put  those  who  are  ill  to  extra  trouble, 
but  is  not  this  much  better  than  to  allow  them  to 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH         147 

spread  the  poison  of  the  disease  broadcast,  and.  give  it 
to  others  ? 

An  important  part  of  the  work,  which  the  Department 
of  Health  does  for  the  city,  is  the  keeping  of  the  record 
of  births,  marriages  and  deaths.  Within  ten  days  after 
a  child  is  born  in  the  city,  a  report  of  its  birth  must  be 
sent  to  the  Department  of  Health.  Among  other  de- 
tails, this  report  must  state  the  names  of  the  parents, 
their  residence,  the  date,  and  the  child's  name  in  case 
one  has  been  selected.  Every  death  and  every  mar- 
riage among  the  citizens  must  also  be  reported. 

The  Bureau  of  Records  takes  charge  of  these  reports 
and  keeps  them  in  order.  It  will  furnish,  at  any  time, 
a  correct  copy  of  any  record  for  a  fee  of  fifty  cents. 
This  charge  is  not  heavy,  and  it  is  the  only  one  the 
Department  of  Health  makes  for  any  service  which  it 
renders  to  the  citizens. 

The  copy  thus  secured  is  a  certificate  from  the  De- 
partment of  Health  that  is  everywhere  respected. 
When  the  time  comes  to  prove  that  a  boy  or  girl  has 
reached  the  age  when  the  law  will  allow  him  or  her  to 
go  to  work,  the  birth  certificate  furnished  by  the  De- 
partment of  Health  is  all  that  is  needed  to  prove  the 
child's  age.  People  often  find  it  necessary  to  prove  a 
birth,  a  marriage,  or  a  death;  the  question  is  readily 
settled  in  any  city  where  the  Department  of  Health 
takes  the  trouble  to  keep  such  records. 


jj* 

CHAPTER  XIX 

THE  HEALTH  DEPARTMENT  AND  THE  SCHOOLS 

Many  of  you  have  seen  the  school  doctor,  and  some 
have  met  the  school  nurse.  Have  you  ever  asked  your- 
selves why  they  visit  the  school  so  regularly,  and  who 
sends  them  there  ?  You  have  probably  seen  what  they 
do  in  school,  but  have  you  ever  wondered  why  they  do 
it? 

The  school  doctor  should  be  called  the  Medical 
Inspector,  because  that  is  his  title.  He  and  the  trained 
nurse  come  to  your  school,  just  as  your  teachers  do,  in 
order  to  be  helpful  to  the  school  children.  They  are 
sent  there  by  the  Department  of  Health,  to  see  that  the 
children  grow  up  with  sound  bodies. 

Sound  bodies  are  quite  as  necessary  as  trained  minds. 
When  one  has  headaches,  or  trouble  with  breathing, 
or  inflamed  eyes,  or  a  constant  buzzing  and  ringing  in 
the  ears,  it  is  not  easy  to  study  well.  But  these  troubles 
can  usually  be  cured,  and  then  study  becomes  much 
easier. 

The  medical  inspector  visits  the  schools  in  his  charge 
every  day.  He  examines  all  children  who  are  re- 
ported to  him  by  the  teachers  as  appearing  ill.  If  he 

148 


WORK  IN  THE  SCHOOLS 


149 


finds  them  really  ill  he  sends  them  home  to  be  cared 
for.  If  the  illness  is  contagious,  an  inspector  visits  the 
home  without  loss  of  time,  and  takes  the  proper  pre- 
cautions to  prevent  further  spreading  of  the  disease. 


-1    r^. 

A  Medical  Inspector  in  School 

At  regular  intervals  the  medical  inspector  makes 
a  careful  examination  of  the  eyes  and  ears,  the  throat 
and  nose,  the  skin  and  hair  of  every  child  in  the 
school.  When  he  finds  signs  of  disease  in  any  child, 
or  of  wrong  conditions  which  may  lead  to  disease,  the 


150      THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH 

parents  are  notified  to  secure  the  proper  treatment 
which  will  cure  the  trouble.  They  are  allowed  to  em- 
ploy their  own  physicians  to  treat  the  case,  or  they  may 
take  the  child  to  a  dispensary  for  treatment,  if  they 
prefer. 

Wise  parents  are  truly  grateful  when  something 
wrong  in  the  health  of  their  children  is  brought  to 
their  notice,  and  are  glad  to  have  the  children  properly 
treated.  The  parents  who  grow  angry  and  refuse  to 
follow  the  advice  of  the  medical  inspector  are  unwise. 
In  some  cases  their  foolish  refusal  is  useless.  The 
Department  of  Health  compels  them  to  obey  its  orders 
where  the  disease  is  serious,  such,  for  example,  as  tra- 
choma, an  eye  disease  which  spreads  from  child  to  child 
and  which  often  leads  to  blindness. 

Let  no  one  think  that  the  medical  inspectors  are 
meddlers  when  they  report  children  ill  and  in  need  of 
a  certain  kind  of  treatment.  They  are  good  doctors, 
and  are  merely  doing  what  the  Department  of  Health 
tells  them  to  do  in  its  efforts  to  keep  the  children  of  the 
city  in  good  health. 

Some  of  the  troubles  which  the  doctor's  examinations 
discover,  may  be  treated  by  the  school  nurse,  if  the 
parents  are  unable  to  secure  the  proper  treatment  for 
the  child.  The  nurse  attends  to  the  simpler  cases  in  the 
school,  and  treats  the  others  at  the  homes  of  the  children 
after  school  hours.  She  is  kind  and  gentle,  and  when 


WORK  IN  THE  SCHOOLS  151 

she  goes  into  the  homes  of  the  children  to  treat  them, 
she  always  teaches  the  mothers  what  to  do  for  the  little 
ones.  The  trouble  may  be  with  the  hair,  or  the  skin, 
or  the  ears.  Whatever  it  is,  the  nurse  understands  how 
to  treat  it,  and  she  always  tries  to  show  the  mothers 
how  they  can  help. 

When  the  doctor  has  advised  an  operation,  the  nurse 
does  her  best  to  make  the  mother  understand  that  it  is 
for  the  child's  own  good.  She  never  laughs  at  the 
mother  who  foolishly  fears  that  the  doctors  will  cut 
her  child's  throat  when  they  take  out  the  adenoids,  or 
injure  the  eyes  when  they  operate  for  trachoma.  In- 
stead, she  promises  that  nothing  of  the  kind  will  happen, 
and  that  the  little  one  will  be  stronger  and  healthier 
after  the  operation  than  before. 

Some  of  the  homes  the  nurse  visits  are  so  poor  that 
the  mothers  must  go  out  to  work,  and  there  is  no  one 
to  keep  the  children  clean.  Not  long  ago  a  child  from 
such  a  home  had  to  be  sent  away  from  school  because 
she  was  very  unclean.  The  teacher  told  her  to  wash 
herself  with  soap  and  warm  water,  and  then  come  back 
to  school.  The  nurse  followed  the  child  home  to  treat 
her  hair.  What  •  do  you  suppose  she  saw  when  she 
opened  the  door? 

She  found  the  little  girl  washing  herself  as  hard  as 
she  could  in  a  bowl  of  tea! 

The  nurse  asked  her  why  she  was  washing  with  tea. 


152  THE   DEPARTMENT   OF   HEALTH 

"I  know  I  ought  to  use  soap  and  warm  water,  be- 
cause the  teacher  said  so,"  answered  the  child.  "But 
I  can't  find  any  soap,  and  the  water  is  cold.  My  tea 
was  warm,  so  I  took  that." 

The  nurse  understood.  She  looked  around  at  the 
bare  room,  and  at  the  child  all  alone  in  it,  with  the 
mother  away  all  day  at  work.  She  had  seen  the  same 
thing  so  often.  But  never  yet,  she  said  to  herself,  had 
she  met  a  child  so  eager  to  obey  the  teacher,  that  in- 
stead of  drinking  her  tea  she  was  using  it  to  wash  with ! 

When  the  nurse  was  through  with  the  child's  hair, 
she  took  her  own  piece  of  soap,  and  warming  some  water 
on  the  stove,  gave  the  little  one  her  first  lesson  in  wash- 
ing herself.  You  should  have  seen  the  child's  joy  when 
the  nurse  took  a  little  pocket  mirror  from  her  bag  and 
told  her  to  look  into  it! 

"Oh!"  she  cried;  "I'm  one  of  the  clean  ones  now! 
Teacher  will  put  me  in  the  front  row!" 

Some  of  you  have  heard  of  the  law  requiring  the  vac- 
cination of  school  children.  This  is  a  law  made  for  the 
good  of  all,  which  the  Board  of  Health  compels  people 
to  respect.  Unlike  the  rule  regarding  trachoma,  which 
forces  parents  to  have  the  disease  cured,  the  rule  regard- 
ing vaccination  forces  them  to  use  the  ounce  of  pre- 
vention which  keeps  off  disease,  and  thus  does  away 
with  the  need  of  cure.  The  Department  of  Health 
requires  school  children  to  be  vaccinated,  because  it 


WORK  IN  THE  SCHOOLS  153 

prevents  their  falling  ill  of  smallpox.  Smallpox  is  a 
painful  disease,  and  very  contagious.  Before  the  doc- 
tors learned  the  value  of  vaccination,  smallpox  was  a 
very  common  disease.  When  it  was  found  that  vacci- 
nation prevented  smallpox,  people  everywhere  gladly 
submitted  to  the  trifling  operation,  rather  than  risk  tak- 
ing the  dreadful  disease.  Since  then  smallpox,  once  so 
frequent,  has  become  so  rare  a  disease  that  many  doc- 
tors have  never  been  called  to  a  case  of  it. 

All  over  the  civilized  world,  vaccination  is  insisted 
upon  by  the  officers  who  have  the  health  of  the  people 
in  their  charge.  Here  at  home,  no  child  can  attend 
school  without  having  a  doctor's  certificate  stating  that 
he  or  she  has  been  successfully  vaccinated.  After  a  few 
years  the  effect  of  the  vaccination  may  wear  off;  a  sec- 
ond, and  later  a  third,  and  even  a  fourth  vaccination 
will  then  be  required. 

A  child  who  cannot  show  a  vaccination  certificate 
is  vaccinated  in  school,  free  of  charge,  by  the  doctors 
sent  by  the  Department  of  Health.  When  this  vacci- 
nation "  takes,"  or  succeeds,  a  certificate  of  vaccination 
is  given  to  the  child.  This  certificate  is  dated,  and  it 
states  the  child's  name,  and  also  the  age  at  the  time 
of  the  vaccination.  It  should  be  put  away  carefully. 
Some  day  it  may  help  secure  the  " working  papers" 
for  a  boy  or  girl  who  has  no  other  proof  of  having 
reached  the  legal  age  for  work. 


154 


THE   DEPARTMENT    OF   HEALTH 


The  natural  way  to  breathe  is  through  the  nose.  The 
child  who  breathes  through  his  mouth,  usually  does 
it  because  the  air  passages  in  his  nose  or  throat  are 
stopped  up  at  some  point.  The  mouth-breather  does 
not  take  in  all  the  air  he  needs  to  make  his  blood  healthy. 
Blood  feeds  the  body,  and  children  need  the  very 
healthiest  blood  because  their  bodies  grow  so  fast. 


A  Boy  before  and  after  the  Removal  of  Adenoids 

When  their  blood  is  poor  they  are  likely  to  be  dull 
and  sleepy.  Their  brains  very  easily  become  tired  or 
restless,  and  they  cannot  study  well.  They  frequently 
fall  ill,  and  they  do  not  grow  so  straight  and  strong  as 
they  should.  Sometimes  they  are  made  bad-tempered, 
and  they  do  not  behave  properly. 

Surely  the  sensible  thing  to  do  in  such  a  case  is  to 
remove  that  which  prevents  the  child  from  breathing 


WORK  IN  THE  SCHOOLS  155 

through  the  nose.  This  is  exactly  what  the  Department 
of  Health  aims  at,  when  it  requires  the  removal  of  the 
adenoids  or  of  the  enlarged  tonsils  which  close  up  the 
natural  air  passages  in  a  child's  nose  or  throat.  Should 
your  medical  inspector  tell  any  one  of  you  that  you 
have  a  trouble  of  this  sort  in  your  nose  or  throat,  I 
hope  your  parents  will  allow  you  to  undergo  the  slight 
operation  which  will  cure  it.  If  they  object,  explain  it 
to  them  exactly  as  I  have  explained  it  to  you,  and  per- 
haps they  will  then  give  their  consent. 

Nose  and  throat  troubles  are  not  the  only  ones  which 
make  a  child  backward,  feeble,  or  naughty.  I  knew  a 
boy  who  was  troublesome  at  home  and  who  hated  to  go 
to  school.  You  will  not  wonder  at  it  when  I  tell  you  that 
he  never  knew  his  lessons,  never  paid  attention  to  the 
school  work,  and  could  never  be  interested  in  it.  He 
spent  his  school  day  playing  and  trying  to  get  others 
to  play  with  him.  This  was  against  the  school  rules, 
and  when  the  teacher  punished  him,  it  made  him  cross 
and  unhappy.  In  his  heart  he  wanted  very  much  to  be 
like  other  boys,  but  somehow  he  could  not  sit  still  as 
they  did,  nor  could  he  pay  attention.  At  promotion 
time  he  was  left  behind.  He  felt  ashamed  of  himself, 
and  though  he  tried  his  best,  his  work  during  the  sec- 
ond term  in  the  same  grade  was  no  better  than  before. 

Then  the  teacher  took  him  to  the  medical  inspector. 
He  examined  the  boy's  eyes  and  discovered  that  the 


156        THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH 

boy  could  not  see  well.  Things  looked  Hurred  to  him 
all  the  time,  much  as  they  do  to  you  and  me  when  we 
try  to  see  through  a  window  covered  with  rain.  It 
was  no  wonder  that  the  poor  boy  failed  to  learn  his  les- 
sons. The  doctor  advised  him  to  wear  a  certain  kind  of 
spectacles.  Looking  through  their  lenses  would  correct 
the  trouble,  he  said,  and  perhaps  cure  it  altogether. 

The  boy  was  delighted  when  he  learned  that  wearing 
spectacles  would  help  him  to  be  like  other  boys.  But  his 
parents  refused  to  buy  them  for  him.  They  had  never 
heard,  they  said,  that  wearing  spectacles  would  make  a 
boy  learn  his  lessons,  or  make  a  bad  boy  behave  in 
school,  and  they  would  never  spend  their  money  for 
such  nonsense. 

The  teacher  felt  very  sorry  for  the  boy.  She  was 
patient  with  him,  and  the  boy  did  his  best,  but  he  could 
not  see  well,  and  it  made  his  head  ache  to  try.  At  last 
she  took  him  to  the  dispensary  herself,  and  paid  for  the 
spectacles  with  her  own  money. 

The  boy  put  them  on  and  was  amazed  at  the  change. 
All  looked  different  now;  everything  was  brighter  and 
clearer.  Now  that  he  could  see  more  clearly  what  was 
written  on  the  blackboard,  and  what  was  printed  in  his 
books,  it  was  easy  to  pay  attention.  It  was  not  long 
before  he  stood  at  the  head  of  his  class.  Then  in  a 
short  time  he  was  promoted,  and  it  did  not  take  him 
many  weeks  to  catch  up  with  his  old  classmates. 


WORK  IN  THE  SCHOOLS  157 

One  thing  alone  now  troubled  him.  How  should  he 
ever  be  able  to  pay  his  teacher  for  the  spectacles  which 
had  done  him  so  much  good?  He  began  to  sell 
newspapers  after  school  hours,  and  carefully  put  by 
every  cent  he  gained.  Whenever  he  had  saved  twenty- 
five  cents  he  exchanged  them  for  a  silver  quarter,  and 
carried  it  to  his  teacher.  It  took  him  three  months  to 
pay  the  money  debt  he  owed  her;  but  he  feels  that  he 
still  owes  her  a  debt  that  money  cannot  pay. 


CHAPTER  XX 

FIGHTING    CONTAGIOUS    DISEASES 

Has  it  occurred  to  any  of  you  that  fighting  forms  a 
large  part  of  the  work  done  by  the  various  departments 
of  the  city  government  ? 

The  Fire  Department  fights  fire.  The  Police  De- 
partment fights  crime  and  disorder.  The  Department 
of  Street  Cleaning  fights  dirt.  The  Department  of 
Health  fights  disease.  Each  department  fights  with  all 
its  force,  and  in  addition  does  all  it  can  to  protect  the 
citizens  from  the  harm  these  powerful  enemies  can  do. 

The  diseases  which  attack  people  in  cities  show  them- 
selves at  all  times,  among  all  classes,  and  in  all  parts 
of  the  city.  This  means  that  the  Department  of 
Health  must  be  on  guard  day  and  night,  and  in  every 
nook  and  corner  of  the  city.  It  means  also  that  it  must 
watch  the  strangers  who  come  into  the  city,  to  prevent 
them  from  bringing  disease  with  them. 

New  York  is  often  called  " America's  Front  Door" 
because  most  of  the  ships  which  come  to  this  country 
land  there.  This  keeps  its  Health  Department  on 
guard,  for  like  a  good  doorkeeper,  it  must  do  its  best 

to  keep  the  public  enemy,  disease,  outside.     As  you 

158 


FIGHTING  CONTAGIOUS  DISEASES 


159 


learned  in  Chapter  XVIII,  the  Health  Officer  of  the 
Port  sends  doctors  to  inspect  all  ships  when  they  arrive 
in  the  harbor;  and  if  any  contagious  disease  is  found  on 
board,  the  passengers  who  have  it,  are  taken  to  a  hos- 
pital before  the  others  can  land. 

Most  of  the  foreigners  who  come  to  this  country  in 
ships  are  not  allowed  to  land  at  once,  even  when  the 
vessels  that  bring 
them  show  a  clean 
bill  of  health. 
Those  who  come 
in  the  steerage  by 
way  of  New  York 
are  taken  to  Ellis 
Island,  where  doc- 
tors examine  each 
one  separately,  to 
be  sure  that  no 
case  of  illness  is  concealed.  Those  who  have  dangerous 
kinds  of  disease,  and  who  may  spread  illness  among  the 
people  whom  they  meet,  are  ordered  sent  back  to  the 
country  from  which  they  came.  This  is  hard  for  them, 
of  course;  but  it  must  be  done  in  order  to  protect  the 
health  of  the  people  in  our  own  country. 

You  must  not  think,  however,  that  all  who  are  ill 
when  they  arrive  in  this  country,  are  sent  back  home. 
This  is  not  necessary  when  the  illness  is  a  simple  one 


Foreigners  at  Ellis  Island 


l6o        THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH 

which  can  be  cured  in  a  short  time.  If  it  is  contagious 
the  patients  are  not  allowed  to  land,  for  this  would  not 
be  fair  to  the  citizens,  who  might  catch  the  disease 
from  them.  Neither  would  it  be  fair  to  make  the 
patients  remain  with  other  foreigners  on  Ellis  Island. 
Therefore  the  Health  Officer  of  the  Port  sees  that  such 
patients  are  placed  in  a  special  hospital  where  doctors 
and  nurses  care  for  them  until  they  are  cured. 

Contagious  diseases  need  the  closest  kind  of  watch- 
ing. Beginning  in  some  one  house,  they  can  move  over 
a  whole  district  in  a  short  time,  attacking  first  one 
family  and  then  another.  No  one  knows  who  will  be 
the  next  victim. 

Have  you  ever  noticed  frost  trace  its  pretty  pictures 
on  a  window  pane  ?  It  forms  in  little  zigzags  near  the 
edges  of  the  glass.  These  widen  into  waved  lines,  and 
then  slender  spears  shoot  out  suddenly  in  unexpected 
places.  The  lines  near  the  edges  creep  higher  and  curve 
up  toward  the  spear  points,  which,  in  turn,  climb  farther 
and  farther  from  their  starting  place.  Little  islands  of 
frostwork  appear  here  and  there  on  the  glass,  and  big- 
ger ones  form  wherever  your  breath  falls.  If  you  wait 
patiently  you  may  see  the  frost  gradually  advance  until 
it  veils  the  whole  glass  like  a  curtain. 

Measles,  scarlet  fever,  and  other  contagious  diseases 
would  spread  over  the  city  in  much  the  same  way  as 
Jack  Frost  covers  the  window  pane,  if  no  steps  were 


FIGHTING  CONTAGIOUS  DISEASES 


161 


taken  to  prevent  it.    Each  new  case  would  be  a  danger 
center  from  which  a  hundred  others  might  spring. 

Some  citizens  do  not  understand  the  risk  of  permitting 
contagion  to  spread.  Others  are  too  careless  to  take  the 
precautions  which  would  prevent  it.  That  is  why  the  De- 
partment of  Health 
has  to  be  especi- 
ally careful  with 
contagious  diseases. 
Every  day  it  sends 
printed  lists  to  the 
schools  throughout 
the  city,  to  inform 
the  principals  just 
where  contagious 
diseases  exist.  To 
make  sure  that  no 
case  shall  escape 
this  list,  every  doc- 
tor in  the  city  is 
compelled  to  report  to  the  Board  of  Health  all  cases  of 
contagious  disease  treated  by  him. 

A  health  inspector  is  at  once  sent  to  investigate  each 
case.  During  his  visit  he  tells  the  parents  just  what 
they  must  do  and  must  not  do  to  prevent  the  dis- 
ease from  spreading  beyond  the  sick  room.  Before 
he  leaves,  he  must  fasten  a  placard  upon  the  front 

Citizenship — n 


A  placard  upon  the  front  door  " 


1 62  THE   DEPARTMENT   OF   HEALTH 

door,  warning  people  of  the  nature  of  the  disease  within, 
and  forbidding  them  to  enter.  No  one  likes  to  have  a 
placard  of  this  sort  posted  on  the  front  door;  but  the 
Department  of  Health  cannot  consider  any  person's 
likes  and  dislikes,  when  it  is  a  question  of  protecting 
citizens  from  contagion.  The  law  says  the  placard 
must  be  put  there,  and  that  it  must  not  be  removed 
without  the  permission  of  the  Board  of  Health.  It  is 
the  duty  of  the  health  inspector  to  see  that  this  law  is 
obeyed. 

One  would  think  that  a  family  with  a  case  of  con- 
tagious disease  in  its  home",  would  be  the  very  first  to 
use  the  ounce  of  prevention  which  would  keep  it  from 
spreading.  It  knows  better  than  all  others  the  distress 
and  anxiety  caused  by  the  illness,  and  every  member  of 
the  household  should  do  the  utmost  to  save  a  neighbor 
from  the  same  trouble.  The  parents  should  see  to  it 
that  their  healthy  children  remain  away  from  other 
children  until  the  sick  one  is  cured.  This  alone  would 
go  far  to  lessen  the  spread  of  the  disease. 

Many  persons  believe  that  if  a  child  has  not  taken  the 
disease  from  which  a  brother  or  sister  is  suffering,  he 
cannot  spread  it  further.  This  is  a  mistake.  Chil- 
dren who  have  been  near  contagion  may  remain  per- 
fectly well  themselves,  and  yet  carry  the  germs  of  the 
disease  in  their  clothing,  in  their  hair,  and  upon  their 
skin.  These  germs  are  too  small  to  be  seen  with  the 


FIGHTING  CONTAGIOUS  DISEASES  163 

naked  eye;  but  they  are  there,  and,  in  some  unknown 
way,  they  pass  to  other  children  who  are  near,  and  in- 
fect them  with  the  disease.  I  trust  all  of  my  readers 
will  remember  this  fact.  When  a  contagious  illness 
appears  in  their  home,  they  should  report  it  to  their 
school  principal  at  once,  without  waiting  for  the  regular 
notice  which  is  sent  by  the  Board  of  Health.  They  will 
be  excused  from  attending  school  while  the  illness  lasts. 

The  child  who  is  ill  must  be  kept  away  from  every  one 
else  in  the  household,  except  the  person  who  is  nursing 
him.  This  "  quarantine,"  or  separation  from  the  rest, 
because  of  the  danger  of  spreading  the  disease,  must  be 
kept  up  until  such  danger  is  entirely  past.  When  the 
contagious  disease  is  of  an  especially  dangerous  kind, 
the  entire  household  is  quarantined.  Being  quaran- 
tined, or  shut  out  from  every  one,  is  inconvenient  for 
the  family.  Is  it  not  better,  however,  to  inconvenience 
one  family  than  to  allow  a  deadly  disease  to  spread 
among  many  ? 

Sometimes  people  are  selfish  and  wicked  enough  to 
try  to  conceal  a  case  of  contagious  disease.  This  is 
against  the  law,  and  those  who  are  guilty  are  certain 
to  be  found  out  sooner  or  later.  The  punishment  for 
such  concealment  is  severe.  It  ought  to  be;  for  it  is 
quite  as  bad  to  expose  others  to  contagion,  as  it  would 
be  to  send  a  poisonous  snake  among  them,  or  to  attack 
them  with  a  knife  or  an  axe. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

FIGHTING  CONTAGIOUS  DISEASES   ^CONCLUDED) 

Tuberculosis,  or  consumption,  is  a  disease  so  frequent 
that  people  are  likely  to  forget  that  it  is  contagious. 
It  is  the  more  easily  spread  from  one  person  to  another, 
because  people  may  have  the  disease  and  not  know  it. 
Because  of  this  strange  fact,  they  may  pass  the  disease 
on  to  others,  long  before  they  themselves  learn  that  the 
cough  they  thought  only  a  "cold"  is  really  a  sign  of 
serious  illness.  People  who  suffer  from  tuberculosis 
require  plenty  of  fresh  air  and  nourishing  food.  They 
should  sleep  in  the  open  air,  or  in  a  room  with  the 
windows  wide  open.  They  should  never  work  or  sleep 
in  a  room  with  others.  It  is  bad  for  those  who  are  ill, 
and  dangerous  for  every  one  else  in  the  room  with 
them.  This  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  an  overcrowded 
workshop  is  against  the  law. 

The  desire  to  save  money  often  leads  men  to  break  the 
law,-  or  to  try  their  utmost  to  evade  its  meaning.  Rather 
than  pay  more  rent  for  extra  space  in  which  to  place  his 
workmen,  the  manufacturer  of  clothing,  for  example, 
gives  out  a  portion  of  his  work  to  be  done  elsewhere. 

The  men  who  take  this  work  hire  other  men  to  do  it 

164 


FIGHTING  CONTAGIOUS  DISEASES 


'65 


for  them,  and  often  herd  them  together  in  a  room  far 
worse  than  the  one  in  the  factory.  Most  of  the  workers 
are  poor  foreigners  who  do  not  know  that  there  is  a 
law  to  protect  them  from  having  to  work  in  over- 
crowded rooms.  Even  if  they  were  aware  of  it,  they 


A  Sweat  Shop 

would  make  no  complaint,  being  only  too  glad  to  earn 
a  little  money. 

A  workshop  of  this  sort  is  called  a  "sweat  shop," 
and  until  news  of  its  existence  reaches  the  Department 
of  Health,  it  acts  like  a  hotbed  in  spreading  the  seeds, 
or  germs,  of  tuberculosis.  A  single  case  of  the  disease 
among  the  workers  in  a  sweat  shop,  will  throw  off  enough 


1 66  THE   DEPARTMENT   OF   HEALTH 

germs  to  infect  all  the  other  workmen.  These  germs 
poison  the  air  the  men  breathe,  and  one  after  another 
may  get  the  disease.  The  contagion  does  not  end  here, 
unfortunately.  Not  only  may  each  man  who  becomes 
ill  carry  the  disease  into  his  own  home,  but  the  germs 
in  the  workroom  may  fall  upon  the  clothing  made  there, 
and  they  are  carried  with  it  into  the  stores  where  it  is 
sold,  and  from  there  into  the  homes  of  the  people  who 
buy  it. 

It  is  curious  how  long  some  of  the  tiny  disease  germs 
can  continue  alive  on  things  which,  like  the  sweat-shop 
clothing,  seem  to  offer  them  neither  food  nor  drink. 
We  cannot  tell  how  they  can  do  so,  but  it  has  been 
proved  over  and  over  again  that  they  remain  alive  and 
carry  the  disease  far  and  wide. 

Educated  people  who  have  contagious  disease  in  the 
house  and  who  know  how  easily  it  can  spread,  are 
likely  to  use  proper  care  to  prevent  the  disease  from 
going  further.  On  the  other  hand,  some  people  boast 
loudly  that  they  do  not  believe  in  contagion.  Such 
people  are  ignorant  and  act  like  little  children.  They 
do  not  know  that  disease  can  be  carried  from  one  home 
to  another  as  easily  as  a  loaf  of  bread.  They  cannot  un- 
derstand that  the  germs  can  lodge  on  clothing,  and  on 
other  things  which  chance  to  be  near  the  patient  suf- 
fering from  a  contagious  disease.  And  because  they  do 
not  know  that  these  germs  can  cause  new  cases  of  the 


FIGHTING  CONTAGIOUS  DISEASES  167 

disease,  just  as  plants  can  grow  from  seeds,  they  say  in 
an  offhand  way  that  they  do  not  believe  in  contagion. 

The  germs  do  not  mind.  They  go  right  on  doing 
their  deadly  work,  just  as  quietly  as  ever. 

I  remember  the  case  of  a  lovely  girl  of  eighteen  years, 
the  joy  of  her  father's  heart  and  the  only  child  in  his 
beautiful  home.  Although  she  had  always  been  care- 
fully guarded  from  disease,  one  day  she  fell  ill  of  scarlet 
fever.  Dark  and  anxious  were  the  days  which  followed, 
for  death  was  very  near  at  times.  Everything  was  done 
for  the  beloved  patient  that  the  doctors  advised,  and 
every  care  taken  to  keep  the  disease  from  spreading  to 
others.  The  young  girl  watched  it  all  from  her  bed 
in  a  listless  way.  When  the  danger  had  passed,  but 
long  before  the  illness  had  run  its  course,  she  began  to 
take  an  interest  in  things,  and  one  morning  she  asked 
the  doctor  to  tell  her  how  contagion  spreads. 

"That  is  more  than  any  one  can  say,  exactly,"  he 
answered;  "but  perhaps  I  can  give  you  some  idea  of 
it.  Think  of  a  letter,  and  how  it  can  be  carried  about. 
You  can  give  me  the  letter,  you  know;  that  would  be  one 
way.  You  can  give  the  letter  to  my  sister,  who,  in  turn, 
can  give  it  to  me;  that  would  be  a  second  way.  My 
sister  may  keep  the  letter  for  a  time  (in  other  words, 
take  the  disease  herself)  before  passing  it  on  to  me; 
that  is  a  third  way.  It  would  be  a  fourth  way  if  the 
letter,  as  might  happen,  were  blown  from  your  room 


1 68  THE    DEPARTMENT   OF   HEALTH 

into  mine  through  open  windows.  A  fifth  way  would 
be  to  have  the  letter  come  to  me  in  a  box  or  a  package, 
as  with  a  gift,  let  us  say.  Do  you  follow  the  idea?" 

"Thank  you,  doctor,  I  think  I  do."  Then  after  a 
little  while,  she  said: 

"  Doctor,  I  believe  I  know  how  I  got  this  illness.  It 
came  in  a  gift,  I  think.  If  it  did,  maybe  you  can  pre- 
vent others  from  getting  it  in  the  same  way." 

Then  she  told  him  that  her  father  had  given  her  a 
beautiful  horse  as  a  birthday  gift,  and  had  allowed  her 
to  order  a  riding  dress  to  wear  when  on  horseback. 
The  dress  was  to  be  fitted  on  a  certain  day.  It  was  not 
ready,  however,  and  the  merchant  excused  the  delay 
by  saying  that  the  tailor  was  at  work  upon  it  in  his  own 
home,  because  he  was  unable  to  leave  his  sick  child. 
It  would  surely  be  ready  for  her  the  next  day.  She 
went  the  next  day,  she  said,  to  try  it  on,  and  the  tailor 
told  her  he  had  come  straight  from  home  in  order 
not  to  disappoint  her  a  second  time.  He  had  asked  a 
neighbor  to  stay  with  the  child  in  his  absence,  for  the 
mother  was  dead.  She  remembered  it  very  well,  be- 
cause she  had  felt  so  sorry  for  the  little  child  at  the  time, 
and  had  hoped  it  would  not  be  lonely  while  the  father 
was  away.  Soon  afterward  the  riding  dress  was  sent 
home,  she  said,  and  she  had  worn  it  only  once  before 
she  was  taken  ill.  Could  it  be  possible,  she  asked,  for 
the  contagion  to  have  come  to  her  in  that  way  ? 


FIGHTING  CONTAGIOUS  DISEASES  169 

The  doctor  thought  it  very  likely,  if  the  tailor's  child 
had  been  ill  of  the  same  disease. 

"Then,  doctor,  won't  you  find  out?"  she  asked. 
:£  You  can  get  the  tailor's  address  from  the  merchant. 
I  am  sure  he  is  a  poor  man,  and  if  the  child  is  not  yet 
well,  perhaps  you  can  help  it  as  you  are  helping  me. 
And  won't  you  please  tell  the  tailor  to  make  no  more 
clothes  in  his  house  while  the  child  is  ill?  I  sup- 
pose he  does  not  know  that  they  can  carry  conta- 
gion. I  did  not  know  it  until  to-day.  If  he  will  let 
me  send  a  trained  nurse  there,  he  can  do  his  work  in 
the  shop." 

The  good  doctor  knocked  the  same  day  at  the  tailor's 
door.  It  bore  no  placard  to  warn  people  against  en- 
tering, but  when  the  door  was  opened  the  doctor  caught 
sight  of  a  little  girl  lying  in  a  tumbled  bed,  and  looking 
very  ill  and  miserable.  His  trained  eyes  saw  with  one 
glance  at  the  child's  flushed  skin,  that  his  patient  had 
hit  upon  the  truth;  the  poison  of  the  scarlet  fever  had 
really  been  carried  from  this  humble  sick  room  into  the 
great  house  far  uptown.  Not  from  this  child,  however, 
whose  illness,  he  saw,  was  just  beginning;  but  from  the 
little  brother,  playing  listlessly  upon  the  bare  floor, 
whose  wan  face  and  hands  showed  all  the  signs  of  ill- 
ness scarcely  past. 

Near  the  bed  stood  the  tailor's  sewing  machine,  and 
close  by  lay  a  pile  of  garments  waiting  to  be  finished. 


1 70  THE    DEPARTMENT   OF    HEALTH 

Looking  at  them,  the  doctor  wondered  into  how  man)' 
other  homes  the  disease  would  have  been  carried,  but 
for  the  thoughtfulness  of  the  young  girl  who  from  her 
own  sick-bed  had  sent  him  here  to  stop  it. 

It  was  useless  to  blame  the  tailor.  The  fact  that  there 
was  no  placard  on  the  door  made  it  plain  that  no  doctor 
had  been  called  in.  When  asked  why  not,  the  tailor 
replied  that  neither  child  had  seemed  very  ill,  and  he 
had  thought  a  doctor  not  necessary. 

The  doctor  then  told  him  the  whole  story.  He  made 
the  tailor  see  the  wrong  he  had  done,  and  then  ex- 
plained that  the  young  lady  had  herself  sent  him  here 
to  treat  his  child  without  cost  to  him.  The  tailor 
was  a  foreigner,  a  poor  man,  and  not  used  to  kindness 
from  strangers.  He  could  scarcely  believe  his  own 
ears  when  he  heard  that  the  young  lady  to  whom  he 
had  done  such  harm  without  knowing  it,  was  ready  to 
help  his  sick  child. 

Things  now  changed.  The  big  girl  uptown  sent  a 
trained  nurse  to  take  charge  of  the  little  girl  downtown. 
The  health  inspector  came  and  put  the  placard  on  the 
door  as  the  law  requires.  He  forbade  the  tailor  to  do 
any  more  work  at  home,  and  he  sent  the  half -finished 
garments,  just  as  they  were,  to  the  Health  Department 
building,  to  be  purified  from  the  poisonous  germs  they 
contained,  and  to  be  returned  to  the  merchant's  shop  to 
be  finished  there. 


FIGHTING   CONTAGIOUS   DISEASES  171 

The  nurse  did  her  share  to  keep  the  illness  from 
spreading  further.  She  took  good  care  of  the  little 
ones,  and  they  grew  stronger  day  by  day.  The  girl  up- 
town improved  also,  and  listened  with  deep  interest  to 
the  reports  the  doctor  daily  brought  to  her  from  the 
other  sick-bed,  the  one  she  had  done  so  much  to  make 
comfortable.  Finally,  the  patients  recovered,  and  I  am 
glad  to  add  that  never  again  will  this  tailor,  at  least, 
make  clothing  in  a  room  where  there  is  illness  of  any 
sort. 

Should  a  case  of  contagious  disease  develop  in  the 
family  of  a  laundress  or  a  dressmaker  who  does  her 
work  at  home,  she  can  spread  its  germs  exactly  as  the 
tailor  spread  the  scarlet  fever  poison.  It  is,  of  course, 
very  hard  on  the  worker  to  have  to  give  up  her  cus- 
tomers during  the  period  the  illness  lasts.  But  is  not 
the  loss  of  the  money  easier  to  face,  than  the  feeling 
that  she  has  sent  disease  and  perhaps  death  into  an- 
other household  ? 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  danger  of  contagion  does 
not  end  with  the  recovery  of  the  patient.  This  is  be- 
cause the  disease  germs  linger  in  the  rooms,  and  re- 
tain their  power  to  spread  the  disease.  The  only  way 
to  prevent  the  germs  from  doing  harm  is  to  kill  them. 

Do  you  wonder  how  it  is  possible  to  kill  creatures  too 
tiny  to  be  seen  ?  It  can  be  done  in  different  ways.  They 
are  readily  killed  by  exposure  to  heat;  by  boiling;  by 


172 


THE  DEPARTMENT   OF   HEALTH 


poisoning  the  air  about  them;  and  by  washing,  with  car- 
bolic or  some  other  germ  poison,  the  places  where  they 
are  likely  to  lodge.  One  or  more  of  these  methods 

may  be  used,  and 
the  process  of  kill- 
ing the  germs  is 
called  "  disinfec- 
tion." 

After  the  patient 
with  contagious  ill- 
ness is  well  once 
more,  men  are  sent 
by  the  Department 
of  Health  to  dis- 
infect  the  sick 
room.  There  is  no 
charge  for  the  work 
they  do,  or  for  the  material  which  they  use.  After 
the  disinfection,  the  men  take  the  bedding  used  by 
the  patient  to  the  building  of  the  Department  of 
Health,  where  it  can  be  disinfected  more  thoroughly 
than  in  the  patient's  home.  They  return  it  next  day, 
after  having  destroyed  the  very  last  of  the  thousands 
of  germs  in  it,  so  as  to  make  it  safe  for  others  to  use. 


Disinfecting  a  Room 


CHAPTER  XXII 

FIGHTING  PREVENTABLE  DISEASES 

A  house  can  be  set  afire  with  a  lighted  match.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  usually  cannot  burn  unless  flame 
touches  it.  In  the  same  way  diseases  which  are  caused 
by  unhealthful  conditions,  are  not  likely  to  occur  unless 
these  unhealthful  conditions  exist.  If  we  can  prevent 
the  unhealthful  conditions,  we  usually  can  prevent  the 
disease.  A  disease  which  can  be  prevented  in  this  man- 
ner is  called,  as  we  have  seen,  a  preventable  disease. 

If  you  are  asked  to  name  some  of  the  unhealthful 
conditions  which  are  likely  to  be  found  in  cities,  you 
may  mention,  first  of  all,  dirt;  then  you  may  add,  damp 
cellars;  bad  plumbing;  impure  air,  food,  and  water; 
overcrowded  lodgings  and  workshops;  and  uncleanli- 
ness  of  walls,  floors,  and  tables  where  the  food  we  eat 
is  handled  or  sold. 

The  Department  of  Health  is  ever  on  the  alert  for 
unhealthful  conditions  of  this  sort,  because  they  are 
against  the  Sanitary  Code.  Health  inspectors  are  sent 
out  every  day  to  look  for  just  such  violations,  and  to 
investigate  complaints  made  by  citizens.  Wherever  un- 
healthful conditions  are  found  to  exist,  the  persons  who 

173 


THE   DEPARTMENT   OF   HEALTH 


are  responsible  for  them  are  at  once  ordered  to  clean, 
repair,  or  change  whatever  is  wrong.  Their  neglect  to 
do  so  is  followed  by  punishment. 

The  Department  is  especially  severe  with  the  owners 
of  tenement  houses,  factories,  and  workshops,  when 
they  disobey  or  neglect  the  rules  of  the  Sanitary  Code. 


A  Neglected  Stable 

If  tenants  and  workmen  who  suspect  unhealthful  con- 
ditions in  the  places  where  they  live  and  work,  will 
notify  the  Department  of  Health,  they  may  rest  as- 
sured that  an  inspector  will  at  once  be  sent  to  investi- 
gate matters,  and  that  anything  found  to  be  wrong  will 
speedily  be  made  right. 

People  whose  business  requires  them  to  handle  or  to 


FIGHTING  PREVENTABLE  DISEASES 


store  things  which  decay  quickly  or  give  off  a  sickening 
odor,  know  that  they  are  being  closely  watched  by  the 
Department  of  Health.  Punishment  awaits  the  stable- 
owner,  for  example,  who  does  not  get  rid  of  the  manure 
and  wet  straw  promptly,  and  in  such  a  manner  that 
its  odor  cannot  escape  into  the  surrounding  air.  Dealers 


A  Well  Kept  Stable 

in  fish,  poultry,  fruits,  and  vegetables;  butchers;  and 
the  owners  of  eating  places  and  hotels,  must  be  equally 
careful  in  disposing  of  the  refuse  that  collects  every 
day.  Otherwise  it  might  lie  forgotten  until  it  decays 
and  endangers  the  public  health. 

Unwholesome  food   is  the  cause  of  much  disease 
which  is  preventable.    On  this  account  the  Department 


I76 


THE   DEPARTMENT   OF   HEALTH 


of  Health  forbids  and  does  all  it  can  to  prevent  the  sale 
of  such  food.  If  we  were  to  don  our  wishing  caps  once 
more,  and  bid  them  transport  us  to  the  different  points 
of  entrance  by  rail  or  water  into  a  great  city  like  New 
York,  we  should  see  an  unending  procession  of  trucks 
and  wagons  bringing  cans  of  milk,  carcasses  of  beef, 
mutton,  and  pork,  boxes  of  canned  fruit  and  vegeta- 
bles, and  crates  and  barrels  filled  with  fresh  fruits,  vege- 
tables, and  fish.  We  should  also  see  many  food  in- 
spectors who  have  been  sent  by  the  Department  of 

Health  to  examine  and 
test  this  great  supply 
of  food.  When  an  in- 
spector finds  any  fruit 
or  vegetables  that  have 
begun  to  spoil,  the 
owner  must  either  give 
up  the  whole  lot  to  be 
destroyed,  or  at  once 
sort  out  the  good  from 
the  bad.  Stale  fish  and 
unwholesome  meat  are 
likewise  destroyed  to 

Testing  Milk  PrCVent      thdr      ^ing 

sold  for  food. 

The  inspectors  of  the  city's  milk  supply  are  very 
strict.     Neither  the  milk  dealer  nor  the  produce  man 


FIGHTING  PREVENTABLE  DISEASES  177 

knows  at  what  moment,  or  in  what  place,  an  inspector 
from  the  Department  of  Health  may  stop  his  wagon 
to  examine  its  contents.  The  milk  inspector  examines 
not  only  the  quality  of  the  milk,  but  also  the  cleanliness 
of  the  cans  that  contain  it.  He  tests  the  quality  of  the 
milk  in  the  dealer's  presence,  by  means  of  a  little  in- 
strument which  cannot  possibly  cheat. 

If  the  milk  is  of  too  poor  a  quality,  or  if  it  has  been 
diluted  with  water  to  increase  its  bulk,  the  inspector's  in- 
strument will  detect  it  at  once,  and  presently  the  gutter 
will  flow  white  with  the  contents  of  the  can.  One  by 
one  the  remaining  cans  are  tested  in  the  same  manner, 
and  also  emptied  in  the  same  manner,  if  the  milk  falls 
below  the  standard,  or  if  the  can  proves  to  be  unclean 
on  its  inner  surface.  The  loss  of  the  milk,  and  the  pay- 
ment of  the  fine  for  dealing  in  milk  below  the  standard, 
cost  the  owner  a  great  deal  of  money;  but  this  makes 
both  him  and  others  likely  to  obey  the  law  in  the  fu- 
ture. It  is  the  surest  way  to  safeguard  the  people  from 
the  diseases  caused  by  impure  milk. 

Disease  germs,  however,  are  often  found  in  milk 
otherwise  good.  People  who  drink  the  milk  swallow 
the  germs,  not  knowing  they  are  there,  and  disease  is 
likely  to  follow.  This  is  very  often  the  case  with  babies 
and  young  children  who  live  chiefly  on  milk.  It  seems 
to  affect  them  most  during  the  summer  season. 

Much  of  this  illness  might  be  prevented  if  the  people 

Citizenship — 12 


178        THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH 

would  kill  the  germs  in  milk  before  using  it.  They 
can  do  this  by  pouring  the  milk  into  clean  bottles,  cork- 
ing them,  and  setting  them  over  the  fire  in  a  kettle  of 
cold  water.  A  little  while  before  the  water  in  the  kettle 
reaches  the  boiling  point,  the  milk  bottles  should  be 
taken  out  and  set  aside  to  cool  slowly.  The  heat  of  the 
water  in  which  the  bottles  stood,  kills  the  germs  in  the 
milk,  and  the  stoppers  prevent  other  germs  from  get- 
ting in.  This  process  is  called  "  sterilizing"  or  "pas- 
teurizing." 

Until  a  few  years  ago  babies  sickened  and  died  by 
the  thousands  in  New  York  alone  every  summer,  mainly 
through  diseases  caused  by  drinking  impure  milk. 
One  citizen,  Mr.  Nathan  Straus,  made  up  his  mind  to 
lessen  this  terrible  death  rate  by  removing  its  chief 
cause.  He  bought  milk,  put  it  into  bottles  ready  to 
feed  to  babies,  and  purified  it  in  the  manner  I  have  just 
explained.  He  gave  this  pasteurized  milk  free  of  charge 
to  mothers  too  poor  to  pay  for  it,  and  he  sold  it  to  other 
mothers  for  less  than  the  price  of  common  milk.  The 
results  were  closely  watched.  They  proved  so  wonderful 
and  saved  so  many  young  lives,  that  Mr.  Straus  opened 
milk  stations  in  other  parts  of  the  city,  and,  as  time 
went  on,  in  other  cities  in  our  country,  and  in  foreign 
countries. 

The  generous  act  of  this  high-minded  citizen  has 
done  much  to  save  children  from  diseases  due  to  im- 


FIGHTING  PREVENTABLE  DISEASES  179 

pure  milk.  The  pasteurizing  of  milk,  however,  does 
not  protect  young  children  from  the  diseases  caused  by 
food  which  is  not  good  for  them,  such  as  meat,  fruit, 
vegetables,  beer,  or  milk  which  has  turned  sour. 

Much  disease  among  young  children  is  caused  by  the 
carelessness  of  their  own  mothers;  and  to  prevent  such 
disease  is  not  an  easy  task.  The  Department  of  Health 
does  what  it  can,  however,  and  during  the  warm  weather 
sends  its  doctors  and  nurses  to  care  for  sick  babies,  and 
to  warn  the  mothers  of  the  danger  that  lies  in  giving 
them  improper  food.  As  an  additional  ounce  of  pre- 
vention, the  Department  gives  out  free  of  charge  a  little 
set  of  rules  for  the  care  £,nd  feeding  of  infants. 

Disease  germs  often  get -into  the  water  which  people 
drink.  Therefore  the  Department  of  Health  watches 
the  city's  water  supply  very  closely.  It  examines  the 
water  every  week  to  make  sure  that  it  is  free  from 
these  germs,  and  from  other  impurities  which  may  cause 
disease.  There  is  always  great  danger  when  certain 
serious  diseases  occur  in  the  neighborhood  from  which 
the  water  supply  comes.  Germs  from  these  diseases 
often  make  their  way  into  the  water,  and  many  a  terri- 
ble epidemic  has  followed  the  use  of  water  poisoned  in 
this  way.  Therefore  when  the  Board  of  Health  sends 
out  a  warning  to  boil  all  water  previous  to  drinking 
it,  every  citizen  should  obey.  It  is  the  only  way  to  kill 
the  germs  it  may  contain. 


i8o 


THE   DEPARTMENT   OF   HEALTH 


Filtering  water  through  layers  of  sand  and  fine  char- 
coal removes  from  it  much  that  is  harmful,  and  many 
people  filter  their  drinking  water.  The  filter  collects 
the  impurities,  but  it  does  not  destroy  them.  Conse- 
quently, unless  it  is  taken  apart  very  often  and  thor- 
oughly cleansed,  it  does  more  harm  than  good. 


A  Water  Filter 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

HOW  CITIZENS  CAN  HELP  GUARD  THE  PUBLIC  HEALTH 

The  work  of  the  Department  of  Health,  as  we  have 
found,  is  to  protect  the  health  of  the  citizens.  Acci- 
dents and  disease  are  the  enemies  of  health,  and  we 
have  seen  how  very  many  things  must  be  done  by  the 
Department,  in  order  to  keep  these  invaders  out  of  a 
great  city  like  New  York.  Unfortunately,  where  so 
many  people  live,  it  is  impossible  to  banish  illness  en- 
tirely. Some  of  these  people  are  ignorant,  and  some 
are  careless.  This  gives  the  public  enemy,  disease,  a 
chance  to  make  headway.  If,  like  good  citizens,  they 
would  help  the  work  of  the  Department  of  Health,  it 
would  be  for  their  own  as  well  as  the  public  good. 

The  New  York  Department  of  Health  never  stops 
in  its  work,  day  or  night,  and  it  employs  more  than  a 
thousand  helpers.  They  would  make  a  long,  long  line, 
if  they  were  to  stand  facing  front  along  the  street  curb; 
but  every  man  among  them  is  needed  to  protect  the 
health  of  the  great  metropolis  of  America.  Indeed,  there 
might  well  be  more  of  them,  for  there  is  ample  work 
in  every  division  of  the  Department. 

Some  of  the  men,  as  we  have  seen,  watch  contagious 

181 


182 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH 


disease.  Having  no  thought  of  danger  to  themselves, 
they  enter  the  homes  of  rich  and  poor  alike,  in  their  ear- 
nest endeavor  to  prevent  the  disease  from  spreading 
elsewhere.  Others,  again,  are  sent  to  the  markets,  the 
slaughterhouses,  the  piers,  and  the  railroad  stations  to 
examine  the  food  and  milk  brought  into  the  city,  and  to 
destroy  whatever  is  bad  or  unfit,  no  matter  to  whom 

it  belongs.  Still 
other  men  are  kept 
busy  looking  for 
the  unhealthful 
conditions  which 
invite  preventable 
diseases. 

Within  the  De- 
partment building, 
much  work  is  done, 
of  great  impor- 
tance to  the  public 
health.  It  is  here 
that  samples  of  food 


Disinfecting  Bedclothes 


and  of   water    are 


examined;  and  specimens  taken  from  persons  who  are 
ill  are  closely  studied  for  signs  of  diphtheria,  typhoid  fe- 
ver, or  tuberculosis.  The  disinfecting  corps  is  hard  at 
work  killing  the  disease  germs  in  the  rugs  and  bedding 
brought  to  them  from  sick  rooms  where  there  have 


HOW  CITIZENS   CAN  HELP 


been  contagious  diseases.     Other  men  are  busy  prepar- 
ing the  virus  which  is  used  in  making  vaccinations, 
and  the  antitoxin  which  lessens  the  danger  of  diphtheria. 

Doing  all  this 
and  much  more 
than  this  for  the 
citizens,  the  De- 
partment of  Health 
has  every  right  to 
expect  them  to  do 
their  share  toward 
making  their  city 
the  most  healthful 
in  the  world.  The 
law  compels  the 
citizens  to  obey 
the  Sanitary  Code, 
but  there  are  other 
ways  by  which 
they  can  show  a 
spirit  of  helpful- 
ness if  they  will. 

The  first  step 
toward  health  is  cleanliness  of  the  body.  Surely 
this  is  not  too  much  to  ask  of  any  one.  Dirt  is  a 
mark  of  savagery,  and  in  these  days  it  is  rightly  con- 
sidered disgraceful  to  have  dirt  on  one's  person,  in 


Free  Baths 


184  THE   DEPARTMENT   OF   HEALTH 

one's  clothing,  or  within  one's  home.  Frequent  bath- 
ing at  home,  or  in  the  free  baths  the  city  provides,  is  an 
important  aid  to  health.  Every  citizen,  young  or  old, 
should  make  it  his  duty  to  wash  his  own  body  from  head 
to  foot  every  day.  I  cannot  begin  to  tell  you  how  much 
this  would  help  in  the  fight  against  contagion.  To  wash 
from  our  bodies  the  dust  and  dirt  that  collects  there 
every  day,  and  in  which  disease  germs  may  find  a  rest- 
ing place,  is  far  wiser  than  to  let  them  stay  there  until 
illness  comes  upon  us. 

Keeping  our  clothing  and  our  dwellings  clean  is 
of  equal  importance.  Fresh  air  and  sunlight  are  ex- 
cellent germ-killers,  and  the  more  freely  the  citizens  ad- 
mit these  blessed  health-bringers  to  their  homes,  the 
less  chance  will  there  be  for  disease  to  enter. 

A  solemn  duty  which  every  citizen  owes  to  the  city 
where  he  lives,  is  to  report  at  once  to  the  Department 
of  Health,  the  presence  of  a  case  of  contagious  disease 
in  his  home,  or  in  that  of  a  neighbor  who  is  wickedly 
trying  to  conceal  it.  Many  are  the  sad  but  true  stories 
which  might  be  told  by  those  who  know,  of  the  spread 
of  a  dangerous  disease  throughout  a  whole  neighbor- 
hood, merely  through  the  concealment  of  the  first  case. 

Because  of  this  concealment  none  of  the  parents  in 
the  neighborhood  took  precautions  to  guard  their  little 
ones  from  the  disease.  How,  indeed,  could  they,  when 
not  one  knew  that  it  was  so  close  by?  The  dangerous 


HOW  CITIZENS  CAN  HELP  185 

germs  entered  their  homes.  Dozens  of  children  were 
attacked  by  the  disease,  and  suffered  much  pain.  A 
few,  weaker  than  the  rest  and  unable  to  fight  the  dis- 
ease, were  relieved  only  when  death  came. 

Surely  the  parents  who  willfully  concealed  the  first 
case,  were  to  blame  for  these  deaths  and  the  sorrow 
they  brought.  Does  any  one  believe  that  the  harm 
they  did  can  be  excused  because  they  meant  no  harm  ? 
Can  such  an  excuse  bring  back  the  dear  children  whose 
lives  were  lost  because  of  the  parents'  stupid  fear  of  the 
Department  of  Health  ?  What  was  there  to  fear  from 
the  Department?  The  inspectors  it  sends,  harm  no 
one.  They  merely  see  that  the  parents  do  all  that  is 
possible  to  'keep  the  disease  from  spreading  further. 
This  is  no  more  than  common  fairness  to  others. 

It  is  true  that  the  precautions  the  inspectors  order, 
may  put  the  parents  to  some  trouble,  but  what  of  it? 
Certainly,  taking  a  little  trouble,  taking  even  a  great 
deal  of  trouble,  is  better  than  to  spread  illness  and  per- 
haps death  among  others. 

Sometimes  people  conceal  a  case  of  contagious  ill- 
ness, because  they  fear  the  Department  of  Health  will 
take  the  patient  away  from  them.  This  rarely  hap- 
pens. When  it  occurs  it  is  only  for  one  of  two  reasons. 
Either  the  parents  disobey  the  orders  the  inspector 
gives  them,  or  else  the  disease  is  so  very  contagious, 
that  taking  the  patient  away  is  the  only  way  to  pre- 


1 86  THE   DEPARTMENT   OF   HEALTH 

vent  others  from  being  attacked  by  it.  The  patient 
who  is  taken  away  from  home  receives  the  very  best  of 
care.  He  is  placed  in  a  fresh,  clean  bed,  doctors  and 
nurses  watch  over  him,  and  good  and  nourishing  food 
is  given  him.  Children  are  treated  with  special  kind- 
ness, and  many  of  them  are  sorry  when  the  time  comes 
to  send  them  home. 

There  is  one  way  in  which  children  can  spread  con- 
tagion, which  I  wish  you  all  to  remember.  When 
there  is  contagious  disease  in  your  homes,  and  you  are 
prevented  from  attending  school,  your  days  seem  very 
long.  You  do  what  you  can,  I  am  sure,  to  help  in  the 
home,  but  you  have  many  idle  hours,  and  you  would 
dearly  love  to  read.  At  such  a  time  the  nearest  library 
would  help  you  pass  your  time.  But,  boys  and  girls, 
you  have  no  more  right  to  go  to  the  library  than  you 
have  to  go  to  school.  Other  children  go  there  for  books 
and  you  might  give  them  the  disease. 

Neither  must  you  borrow  a  library  book.  It  is  a 
well-known  fact  that  disease  germs  are  likely  to  locate 
in  books  which  come  within  their  reach.  Therefore  you 
must  not  draw  books  from  the  library,  lest  your  bring- 
ing them  into  your  home  should  help  to  spread  the 
disease  among  others.  If  there  are  library  books  in 
your  home  when  the  disease  makes  its  appearance,  tell 
the  health  inspector  when  he  comes.  He  will  see  that 
they  are  called  for  by  a  messenger  from  the  Depart- 


HOW  CITIZENS  CAN  HELP  187 

ment,  and  thoroughly  disinfected.  They  are  then  sent 
back  to  the  library.  In  a  case  of  this  sort  the  library 
does  not  fine  a  reader  for  keeping  a  book  beyond  the 
proper  time. 

Every  citizen  should  keep  himself  posted  in  regard 
to  the  rules  of  the  Sanitary  Code.  He  should  also  pay 
close  attention  to  the  notices  the  Board  of  Health  sends 
out  from  time  to  time.  They  are  meant  for  the  good 
of  the  city,  and  it  is  the  citizen's  duty  to  respect  and 
obey  them.  Take,  for  example,  the  rule  which  forbids 
spitting  on  the  streets  and  in  other  public  places.  In 
an  earlier  chapter  you  learned  the  reason  for  this  rule. 
Spitting  is  a  filthy  habit  and  almost  always  an  unnec- 
essary one.  Those  who  must  expectorate,  because  of 
illness  or  otherwise,  should  always  carry  about  with 
them  a  supply  of  soft  paper.  If  no  cuspidor  is  near 
when  needed,  they  can  make  use  of  a  piece  of  the  paper. 
This  can  then  be  folded  over,  wrapped  in  a  second 
piece,  and  thrown  into  the  first  garbage  can,  or  into 
some  equally  safe  place  where  it  can  do  no  harm.  To 
burn  it  in  the  kitchen  stove  is  the  safest  way  of  all. 

Another  section  of  the  Sanitary  Code  makes  it  a  duty 
to  clean  thoroughly  all  bottles  or  cans  used  for  milk  and 
cream,  immediately  upon  emptying  them.  It  forbids 
one  also  to  put  anything  except  milk  or  cream  into 
these  bottles  or  cans,  or  to  use  them  for  any  purpose 
whatever  except  to  hold  milk  and  cream. 


l88  THE   DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH 

There  are  a  number  of  good  reasons  for  this  rule. 
Ordinary  cleanliness  demands  rinsing  the  bottle  imme- 
diately after  it  has  been  emptied  of  milk.  It  is  easy  to 
rinse  out  all  traces  of  fresh  milk.  It  is  much  harder  to 
clean  out  milk  that  is  stale  and  sour.  The  very  best  of 
milk  poured  into  a  bottle  which  contains  traces  of  sour 
milk,  soon  becomes  tainted  and  unfit  to  drink. 

Milk  bottles  are  often  taken  into  sick  rooms  where 
there  is  a  contagious  disease.  Germs  like  milk  just 
as  babies  do,  or  kittens.  They  enter  the  milk  bottle 
and  thrive  there.  Consequently,  unless  the  bottle  is 
thoroughly  cleaned  as  soon  as  it  is  brought  back  from 
the  sick  room,  such  .milk  as  may  remain  in  it,  even  if 
only  a  few  drops,  will  carry  the  contagion  further. 
Should  fresh  milk,  by  any  chance,  be  poured  into  the 
same  bottle  before  it  has  been  cleansed,  it  will  be  very 
dangerous  to  the  next  person  who  drinks  it. 

As  we  have  already  learned,  overwork,  and  work  be- 
gun too  early  in  life,  do  children  great  harm.  This  is 
the  reason  why  many  states  have  enacted  Child  Labor 
laws.  Some  parents  excitedly  declare  these  laws  most 
unjust.  Others  very  foolishly,  and  also  very  wrongly, 
try  to  break  or  evade  them. 

Little  citizens  as  well  as  big  ones  ought  to  respect 
and  obey  these  laws.  A  child  may  be  ambitious  to 
work;  but  he  should  never  pretend  to  be  older  than 
he  really  is  in  order  to  get  the  "working  papers,"  as  he 


HOW  CITIZENS  CAN  HELP 


i89 


calls  the  Employment  Certificate  which  he  must  have 
before  he  can  obtain  employment.  It  is  not  honest  to 
do  a  thing  of  this  sort;  it  is  not  fair  to  his  own  health 
which  the  city  is  trying  to  protect;  and  it  often  proves 
a  vain  and  useless,  as  well  as  a  foolish,  trick. 

The  law  requires  proof  of  the  real  age  of  a  boy  or 
girl  who  wishes  to  work.  In  such  a  case  a  birth  certif- 
icate is  the  very  best  proof.  This  is  easy  to  get  if  the 
child  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  if  the  birth 
was  reported  to  the 
Board  of  Health.  Fail- 
ing this,  an  American- 
born  child  may  show 
a  record  of  baptism  or 
of  confirmation.  If 
the  church  in  which 
he  was  baptized  or 
confirmed 


Child  Workers 


THE   DEPARTMENT   OF   HEALTH 


record  of  such  ceremonies,  the  authorities  may  accept 
written  statements  sworn  to  before  a  notary  public  by 
at  least  two  witnesses,  that  they  were  present  at  the 
baptism  or  at  the  confirmation  of  the  child  at  a  given 
date,  and  stating  the  child's  age  at  the  time.  The 
foreign-born  child  must  present  a  passport,  or  a  tran- 
script of  the  record  as  shown  by  the  manifest  in  the 
Bureau  of  Immigration  at  the  time  of  his  arrival  in 
this  country. 

When  the  school  records  show  a  child  to  be  fourteen, 
and  proof  of  age  is  wanting,  the  parents  may  apply  to 
the  Department  of  Health  for  a  physical  examination 
of  the  child.  If  this  examination  shows  the  child  to 
be  strong  enough,  the  Department  may  grant  the  de- 
sired papers.  Otherwise  the  certificate  is  withheld  and 
the  child  must  remain  at  school.  It  is  useless  to  find 
fault  with  the  officers  of  the  Department  of  Health  for 
this.  Law  is  law,  and  no  one,  not  even  the  Mayor,  or 
the  Governor  has  the  right  to  break  it. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

OTHER  HEROES 

Now  that  you  understand  what  work  is  done  for  the 
city  by  each  of  the  four  great  departments  told  about 
in  this  book,  I  wish  to  ask  you  which  one  of  them 
you  would  rather  join,  if  you  could  have  the  choice. 
Which  would  you  like  best  to  be— a  fireman,  a  police- 
man, a  street  cleaner  or  ashman,  or  an  employee  of 
the  Department  of  Health? 

I  can  hear  your  ready  answers,  and  in  the  chorus  of 
boys'  voices,  it  seems  to  me  that  " Fireman"  and  "Po- 
liceman" are  the  choice  of  by  far  the  greater  number. 
I  wish  I  might  hear  you  give  your  reasons  for  choosing 
thus,  but  I  think  I  know  what  they  are. 

Firemen,  you  say,  and  members  of  the  police  force 
also,  have  the  opportunity  to  do  brave  deeds,  and 
to  act  the  hero's  part  in  protecting  life  and  property, 
and  in  rescuing  the  weak  and  helpless  from  danger. 
They  are  strong  men,  calm  and  fearless,  fine-looking, 
and  "full  of  fight"  as  you  put  it,  or,  as  I  should  say, 
on  the  alert  for  a  chance  to  meet  and  conquer  the  pub- 
lic enemy,  whether  it  is  fire  trying  to  play  the  master, 

or  dark  and  cowardly  crime. 

191 


IQ 2  GOOD   CITIZENSHIP 

Few  are  the  voices  of  boys  whose  choice  leans  toward 
the  Street  Cleaning  force,  or  toward  the  ranks  of  the 
Department  of  Health.  I  am  sorry,  for  good  work  is 
done  in  those  fields  also.  Their  men  are  faithful  sol- 
diers, and  day  and  night  they  stand  guard  against  the 
enemy  of  their  own  special  department.  Their  duty 
calls  them  to  do,  and  often  to  dare,  in  their  constant 
fight  to  defend  the  citizens  from  diseases  which  creep  in 
like  a  thief  in  the  night.  The  enemies  that  these  men 
strive  to  hold  at  bay,  are  more  persistent  than  either 
fire  or  crime,  and  far  more  dangerous.  Instead  of  at- 
tacking the  citizens  boldly,  face  to  face  and  in  the  open, 
dirt  and  disease  are  always  seeking  for  unguarded 
points  where  they  can  break  in  and  deal  blows  when 
least  expected. 

It  stirs  the  blood  to  think  of  a  fireman  coming  down 
a  dizzy  ladder,  half  hidden  in  clouds  of  smoke  red  with 
the  glow  of  the  flames,  and  bearing  in  his  arms  the 
woman  whose  life  he  has  saved.  It  is  thrilling  to  see 
a  police  officer  leap  overboard  to  rescue  a  drowning 
man,  or,  single-handed,  capture  a  pair  of  burglars  by 
sheer  grit,  and  then  march  them  to  the  station  house. 

It  is  quite  true  that,  in  contrast,  a  sweeper  pushing 
his  broom,  an  ashman  swinging  a  heavy  can  in  air,  or 
an  employee  of  the  Department  of  Health  carrying  from 
some  infected  house  a  shapeless  bundle  of  bedding 
alive  with  disease  germs,  presents  a  less  attractive  pic- 


OTHER  HEROES  IQ3 

ture.  And  yet,  the  heart  within  the  white  uniform  or 
the  brown  one,  or  the  one  beating  beneath  the  badge  of 
the  Department  of  Health,  may  be  just  as  heroic,  just 
as  full  of  the  courage  to  do  and  to  dare  when  duty  calls, 
as  the  one  inside  the  dark  blue  coat  with  its  buttons  of 
Fire  Department  silver,  or  of  Police  Department  gold. 

There  are  other  kinds  of  heroism  in  the  world,  than 
that  which  the  men  of  the  Fire  and  Police  departments 
so  often  display.  There  is  the  heroism  of  small  things, 
that  helps  a  man  do  humble  work,  such  as  street  sweep- 
ing, with  the  same  earnestness  of  purpose  one  gives 
to  great  work;  that  lets  him  take  the  same  pride  in  a 
stretch  of  well-swept  pavement,  as  does  the  sea  captain 
when,  at  the  end  of  an  ocean  voyage,  he  lands  his  hun- 
dreds of  passengers  safe  and  sound.  And  there  is  the 
heroism  of  doing  one's  duty  loyally,  when  unwatched, 
even  unto  death  if  need  be.  More  than  once  death  has 
been  the  fate  of  the  Health  Department  employee,  en- 
tering unprepared  into  the  midst  of  deadly  contagion, 
or  suddenly  attacked  by  some  misguided  citizen  whose 
child  he  has  been  ordered  to  take  to  a  hospital,  lest  its 
disease  infect  others. 

It  is  brave  to  risk  sudden  death  by  fire,  by  bullets, 
or  by  the  murderer's  knife.  Is  it  any  less  brave,  think 
you,  to  risk  the  painful  illness,  perhaps  death,  that 
threatens  the  man  whose  duty  leads  him  into  rooms 
saturated  with  the  poison  of  contagious  disease? 

Citizenship — 13 


194  GOOD   CITIZENSHIP 

I  fancy  the  bravest  fireman  or  policeman  would 
shrink  back  in  horror  from  the  room  where  a  small- 
pox patient  lies  raving  in  delirium;  that  he  might  even 
run  away,  fast  as  his  legs  could  carry  him,  if  asked 
to  lift  the  sick  man,  put  him  on  a  stretcher,  take  him 
to  the  waiting  ambulance,  and  thence  to  the  hospital 
where  such  cases  are  cared  for. 

Yet  some  one  must  remove  the  sufferer,  in  order  to 
protect  others  from  taking  the  disease  from  him;  and 
some  one  must  enter  the  room  afterward,  to  disinfect 
the  place,  and  to  destroy  the  germs  that  abound  there. 
This  is  the  health  officer's  duty.  Now  that  you  know 
how  contagion  spreads,  you  can  imagine  how  dreadful 
it  would  be,  were  this  officer  to  play  the  coward's  part 
and  shirk  this  duty.  But  the  health  officer  never  hesi- 
tates. He  boldly  risks  the  deadly  infection  from  which 
all  others  flee  in  terror,  simply  because  his  duty  de- 
mands it.  To  personal  danger  he  gives  never  a 
thought;  for  it  is  his  duty  to  protect  others,  though 
the  doing  of  it  compels  him  to  enter  places  and  handle 
things  all  other  men  shun  like  poison. 

In  addition  to  the  heroism  of  small  things,  the  street 
cleaner  sometimes  has  opportunity  to  show  the  heroism 
that  calls  for  quick  thought  and  brave  action  when 
sudden  danger  threatens.  His  work  keeps  him  on  the 
street  for  many  hours,  and  when  an  accident  occurs, 
he  is  often  the  first  man  to  lend  help.  In  one  of  the 


OTHER  HEROES  195 

earlier  chapters  of  this  book,  you  read  how  the  street 
cleaners  were  called  upon  to  help  dig  out  a  boy  who 
was  caught  beneath  a  fallen  snow  house.  They  and 
their  shovels  often  render  the  best  kind  of  first  aid  in 
accidents. 

Only  recently  there  was  an  instance  of  the  same  sort, 
and  the  group  of  white-clad  men  sweeping  the  street 
were  the  first  to  reach  the  spot  where  a  serious  accident 
had  occurred,  and  the  first  to  render  aid.  It  was  not 
a  part  of  their  " day's  work,"  as  the  saying  goes;  and 
what  they  did  without  orders,  shows  that  there  are 
heroes  among  the  "White  Wings,"  as  we  call  the  New 
York  street-cleaning  force,  quite  as  ready  to  risk  life  or 
limb  to  help  others,  as  the  fireman  and  the  policeman. 

Have  you  ever  watched  from  a  safe  distance,  what 
happens  when  a  blast  is  set  off?  If  so,  you  have  seen 
how  a  large  rock  is  shattered  by  gunpowder  or  dyna- 
mite, much  as  a  pane  of  glass  is  shattered  by  a  stone. 
Before  the  blast  is  set  off,  men  with  danger  flags  warn 
the  workmen  and  the  passers-by  to  place  themselves 
at  a  safe  distance  until  the  explosion  is  over.  This  is 
done  because  of  the  danger  of  the  flying  rocks  and 
clods  of  earth,  which  the  charge  sends  out  in  all  di- 
rections. This  danger  is  lessened,  as  far  as  possible, 
by  placing  a  great  pile  of  heavy  logs,  chained  together, 
over  the  rock  to  be  broken. 

A  little  while  ago,  rock  was  being  broken  by  blasting 


196  GOOD   CITIZENSHIP 

in  some  vacant  lots,  in  order  to  lay  the  foundations 
for  a  new  building.    Day  after  day  the  muffled  roar 


Ready  to  set  off  a  Blast 

of  the  explosions  echoed  through  the  neighborhood. 
Everything  was  done  according  to  law  and  therefore 
no  one,  least  of  all  the  workmen,  gave  a  thought  to  the 
danger  that  always  accompanies  the  smallest  blast. 

But  one  day,  instead  of  the  usual  dull  thud  from  the 
vacant  lot,  there  came  a  thundering  crash,  followed 
by  the  rumble  of  falling  rocks.  Clouds  of  thick  dust 
rose  in  air,  and  flying  stones  dropped  to  earth  like  hail. 
A  blast  had  in  some  way  been  set  off  ahead  of  time, 
and  right  in  the  midst  of  the  workmen ! 

The  next  instant  a  company  of  street  sweepers  at 


OTHER  HEROES  197 

work  on  the  same  street,  snatched  up  their  shovels 
and  ran,  as  if  for  their  lives,  not  away  from  the  scene 
of  the  accident,  but  toward  it,  all  heedless  of  the  falling 
stones  in  their  eagerness  to  help.  There  was  the  like- 
lihood that  other  blasts  set  off  by  the  first  might  follow 
at  any  moment,  but  the  men  never  thought  about  this. 
What  they  thought  was  that  workmen  might  be  lying 
under  the  fallen  rock,  hurt  and  helpless.  Into  the  yellow 
dust  they  dashed  to  where,  from  under  the  overturned 
mass  of  loosened  earth  and  broken  rock,  a  boot  showing 
here,  or  a  bit  of  overall  there,  told  how  sorely  help  was 
needed. 

Long  before  the  first  policeman  reached  the  scene, 
the  street  sweepers  were  at  work,  shoveling  back  the 
loose  soil,  and  lifting  up  pieces  of  rock.  Groans  and 
faint  cries  from  the  buried  men  showed  they  were  still 
living,  and  made  the  brave  fellows  in  white  work  still 
faster.  Each  worker  knew  that  the  earth  and  rock 
loosened  by  the  blast,  and  hanging  over  their  heads  as 
by  a  thread,  might  at  any  moment  fall  and  crush  them 
all,  but  not  a  man  faltered.  Soon  an  opening  was  made, 
and  by  the  time  the  police  took  charge,  the  hardest  part 
of  the  work  was  over.  Digging  carefully  as  they  neared 
the  injured  men,  they  presently  reached  them,  and  drew 
them  into  the  open  air,  one  by  one.  Several  lives  were 
thus  saved,  which  would  have  been  lost  but  for  the 
street  sweepers'  courage  and  their  ready  help. 


IQ8  GOOD    CITIZENSHIP 

Into  every  one's  life  there  come  moments  when  duty 
calls  to  do  and  dare  without  counting  the  risk.  Death 
may  follow,  but  it  will  crown  the  hero  with  honor,  and 
it  will  bring  home  to  others  the  lesson  to  be  as  worthy, 
as  faithful,  and  as  ready  to  serve,  as  the  comrade  who 
has  fallen  in  the  fight. 

You  have  seen  how  much  true  heroism  there  is  to 
be  found  among  those  who  do  their  duty.  You  have 
seen  how  much  harm  is  done  through  ignorance  and 
thoughtlessness;  how  much  good  is  accomplished  by 
those  who  know  and  those  who  think.  We  must  for- 
give the  ignorant  as  we  forgive  very  little  children,  be- 
cause they  know  no  better.  It  is  harder  to  forgive  the 
thoughtless. 

Now  that  you  know  wherein  little  citizens  can  be 
useful,  your  ignorance  can  never  again  be  taken  as  an 
excuse  for  your  failure  to  do  your  duty. 

Take  to  heart  all  that  these  pages  have  tried  to  make 
clear  to  you :  carry  their  lessons,  not  only  into  your  own 
daily  life,  but  also  into  the  lives  of  those  you  meet  in 
your  home  and  elsewhere : — this  will  include  your  par- 
ents, your  sisters  and  brothers,  your  neighbors,  your 
friends  and  companions,  your  playmates  and  school- 
mates. Do  this,  and  you  will  not  only  prove  yourself 
a  good  citizen,  but  you  may  be  able  to  lead  many 
others  into  the  paths  of  good  citizenship. 


HISTORICAL     READERS 

By  H.  A.   GUERBER 


Story  of  the  Thirteen  Colonies $0.65 

Story  of  the  Great  Republic 65 

Story  of  the  English .65 

Story  of  the  Chosen  People    .  60 

Story  of  the  Greeks 60 

Story  of  the  Romans 60 


A  LTHOUGH  these  popular  books  are  intended  primarily 
J[\.  for  supplementary  reading,  they  will  be  found  quite  as 
valuable  in  adding  life  and  interest  to  the  formal  study 
of  history.  Beginning  with  the  fifth  school  year,  they  can  be 
used  with  profit  in  any  of  the  upper  grammar  grades. 
^|  In  these  volumes  the  history  of  some  of  the  world's  peoples 
has  taken  the  form  of  stories  in  which  the  principal  events  are 
centered  about  the  lives  of  great  men  of  all  times.  Through- 
out the  attempt  has  been  made  to  give  in  simple,  forceful  lan- 
guage an  authentic  account  of  famous  deeds,  and  to  present  a 
stirring  and  lifelike  picture  of  life  and  customs.  Strictly  mili- 
tary and  political  history  have  never  been  emphasized. 
^[  No  pains  has  been  spared  to  interest  boys  and  girls,  to 
impart  useful  information,  and  to  provide  valuable  lessons  of 
patriotism,  truthfulness,  courage,  patience,  honesty,  and  in- 
dustry, which  will  make  them  good  men  and  women.  Many 
incidents  and  anecdotes,  not  included  in  larger  works,  are 
interspersed  among  the  stories,  because  they  are  so  frequently 
used  in  art  and  literature  that  familiarity  with  them  is  in- 
dispensable. The  illustrations  are  unusually  good. 
^|  The  author's  Myths  of  Greece  and  Rome,  Myths  of 
Northern  Lands,  and  Legends  of  the  Middle  Ages,  each, 
price  $1.50,  present  a  fascinating  account  of  those  wonderful 
legends  and  tales  of  mythology  which  should  be  known  to 
everyone.  Seventh  and  eighth  year  pupils  will  delight  in  them. 


AMERICAN    BOOK     COMPANY 

(18) 


SPECIAL    TEXT-BOOKS 
FOR   EVENING   SCHOOLS 

By   WILLIAM   E.    CHANCELLOR,   Superintendent    of 
Schools,  Washington,  D.  C. 


Reading   and    Language 

Lessons $0.30 

Arithmetic 30 


Studies  in  English  .     .     .  $0.30 
United       States     History 

and   Government     .     .        .30 


THIS  series  offers,  for  the  first  time,  a  system  of  instruc- 
tion which  is  designed  especially  for  evening  schools, 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  classes,  and  similar 
public    and    private   educational   institutions.      Each   volume 
contains  about  1 1  5  pages. 

^j  The  conditions  existing  in  day  and  in  evening  schools  differ 
so  radically  that  the  use  of  the  same  system  of  instruction  in 
both  is  not  only  impractical,  but  also  impossible.  And  much 
experience  has  demonstrated  that  the  same  text-books  can  not 
be  used  with  equally  good  results  in  the  two  kinds  of  schools. 
^[  The  students  pursuing  studies  in  evening  schools  are  gen- 
erally older  and  far  more  mature  than  those  who  pursue  cor- 
responding studies  in  day  schools,  and  therefore  require  in  the 
subjectmatter  and  illustration  of  their  texts  material  of  a  different 
character  from  that  furnished  in  ordinary  day  school  texts. 
^[  The  time  allotted  to  each  study  is  very  limited,  and  text- 
books are  needed  that  present  in  the  briefest  compass  the 
essential  facts  and  principles. 

^[  The  teachers  in  evening  schools  usually  have  duties  also  in 
day  schools,  and  the  text-book  should  do  whatever  it  can  to 
economize  their  time  in  the  preparation  of  lessons. 
^J  The  funds  available  for  the  purchase  of  evening  school 
text-books  in  those  communities  which  furnish  free  books  are 
usually  limited,  and  therefore  the  books  should  be  compact  and 
offered  at  low  prices.  All  of  these  ends  have  been  provided 
for  in  this  series. 


AMERICAN    BOOK    COMPANY 


(121) 


NEW    CENTURY    HISTORY 
OF    THE    UNITED    STATES 

01. OO 
By  EDWARD  EGGLESTON 

BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR 

First  Book  in  American  History $0.60 

History  of  the  United  States  and  Its  People 1.05 

Stories  of  Great  Americans  for  Little  Americans  (Supplementary 

Reading  for  Second  Year) 40 

Stories  of  American  Life  and  Adventure  (Supplementary  Reading 

for  Third  Year) 50 


THE  NEW  CENTURY  HISTORY  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES  was  not  only  the  last  literary 
work,  but  also  the  crowning  effort  of  Edward 
Eggleston.  As  a  text-book  for  grammar  grades  it  has  no 
superior.  Although  brief,  it  is  sufficiently  full  for  all  school 
purposes,  and  is  entirely  within  the  comprehension  of  pupils. 
The  narrative  is  written  in  an  unusually  simple  and  at- 
tractive style,  and  is  accurate  in  every  detail,  being  based  on 
exhaustive  study  and  minute  knowledge. 
^[  The  treatment  is  well  proportioned,  emphasis  being  laid 
upon  the  social,  economic,  and  industrial  development  of  the 
country.  The  relation  of  cause  and  effect  is  clearly  traced, 
and  all  unimportant  events  have  been  carefully  omitted.  At- 
tention is  also  directed  to  the  summary  of  important 
events  at  the  end  of  each  chapter,  the  references  to  collateral 
reading,  the  appendix  containing  short  biographies  of  great 
men,  the  text  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and 
the  helpful  index. 

^j  The  numerous  illustrations  consist  of  pictures  of  cele- 
brated men  and  scenes,  and  form  an  attractive  and  instructive 
supplement  to  the  text.  The  maps  are  clear,  and  not  over- 
crowded with  the  names  of  places. 


AMERICAN    BOOK     COMPANY 

(us) 


SUPPLEMENTARY  READING 

By  EDWARD  EGGLESTON 


STORIES  OF  GREAT  AMERICANS  FOR 

LITTLE   AMERICANS $0.40 


THIS  book  is  eminently  suited  to  second  year  pupils. 
Not  only  does  it  make  learning  to  read  an  easy  task, 
but  it  provides  matter  which  is  stimulating  and  enjoy- 
able. By  means  of  interesting  personal  anecdotes,  the  child 
is  made  familiar  with  the  history  of  our  country  and  some  of 
its  leading  figures.  Famous  warriors  and  patriots,  states- 
men, discoverers,  inventors,  men  of  science  and  letters,  find 
a  place  in  these  tales.  Some  of  the  stories  should  be  known 
to  every  American,  because  they  have  become  a  kind  of 
national  folk-lore.  The  words  are  not  too  difficult,  while 
the  sentences  and  paragraphs  are  short. 


STORIES    OF    AMERICAN    LIFE    AND 

ADVENTURE.     .......     .$0.50 


HERE  are  presented  for  third  year  pupils  exciting  stories 
which  tell  of  the  adventurous  pioneer  life  of  this 
country,  and  which  show  why  the  national  character 
is  distinguished  by  traits  of  quick-wittedness,  humor,  self- 
reliance,  love  of  liberty,  and  democratic  feeling.  These 
historical  anecdotes  include  stories  of  Indian  life,  of  frontier 
peril  and  escape,  of  adventures  with  the  pirates  of  Colonial 
times,  of  daring  Revolutionary  feats,  of  dangerous  whaling 
voyages,  of  scientific  explorations,  and  of  personal  encounters 
with  savages  and  wild  beasts.  With  them  are  intermingled 
sketches  of  the  homes,  the  food  and  drink,  the  birds  and 
animals,  the  schools,  and  the  children's  plays  of  other  times. 


AMERICAN     BOOK    COMPANY 


BROOKS'S    READERS 

By    STRATTON    D.    BROOKS,   Superintendent 
of  Schools,  Boston,  Mass. 


FIVE  BOOK  SERIES 

First  Year $0.25 

Second  Year      .    '.     .     .        .35 

Third  Year 40 

Fourth  and  Fifth  Years    .        .50 
Sixth,   Seventh  ,   and 

Eighth  Years      ...        .60 


EIGHT    BOOK   SERIES 

First  Year $0.25 

Second  Year      ....        .35 

Third  Year 40 

Fourth  Year      ....        .40 

Fifth  Year 40 

Sixth  Year 40 

Seventh  Year 40 

Eighth  Year 40 


THESE  readers  form  a  good  all-round  basal  series,  suit- 
able for  use  in  any  school;  but  they  will  appeal  to 
teachers  particularly,  because  of  their  very  easy  gradation. 
Both  in  thought  and  expression,  the  books  are  so  carefully 
graded  that  each  selection  is  but  slightly  more  difficult  than 
the  preceding  one,  and  there  is  no  real  gap  anywhere. 
^[  Although  a  wide  variety  of  reading  matter  is  provided, 
good  literature,  embodying  child  interests,  has  been  considered 
of  fundamental  importance.  Lessons  of  a  similar  nature  are 
grouped  together,  and  topics  relating  to  kindred  subjects  recur 
somewhat  regularly.  All  are  designed  to  quicken  the  child's 
observation,  and  increase  his  appreciation. 
^|  By  the  use  of  this  series,  the  child  will  be  taught  to  read  in 
such  a  manner  as  will  appeal  to  his  interests,  and  at  the  same  time 
he  will  be  made  acquainted  with  the  masterpieces  of  many  fa- 
mous writers.  He  will  gain  a  knowledge  of  many  subjects,  and 
acquire  pure  and  attractive  ideals  of  life  and  conduct.  His  imagi- 
nation will  be  cultivated  by  pleasing  tales  of  fancy,  and  he  will 
also  be  taught  a  love  of  country,  and  given  glimpses  into  the 
life  of  other  lands. 

^J  The  books  are  very  attractive  in  mechanical  appearance, 
and  contain  a  large  number  of  original  illustrations,  besides 
reproductions  of  many  celebrated  paintings. 


AMERICAN     BOOK     COMPANY 


(XI) 


North  America 

.  $0.60 

Africa      $0.60 

South  America 
Europe    ... 

...       .60 

7O 

Australia,    Our   Colonies, 
and    Other    Islands    of 

Asia  .... 

...        60 

the  Sea                .     .              60 

CARPENTER'S 
GEOGRAPHICAL    READERS 

By  FRANK  G.  CARPENTER 


THE  purpose  of  Carpenter's  Geographical  Readers  is  to 
supplement  the  regular  text-books  on  the  subject,  giving 
life  and  interest  to  the  study.  In  this  way  they  accom- 
plish two  separate  purposes — they  afford  valuable  instruction 
in  geography,  and  provide  drill  in  reading. 
*f[  The  books  are  intensely  absorbing — they  were  written  by 
Mr.  Carpenter  on  the  spots  described,  and  present  an  accurate 
pen-picture  of  places  and  people.  The  style  is  simple  and 
easy,  and  throughout  each  volume  there  runs  a  strong  personal 
note  which  makes  the  reader  feel  that  he  is  actually  seeing 
everything  with  his  own  eyes. 

^J  As  advocated  by  leading  educators,  attention  is  directed 
principally  to  the  various-  peoples,  their  strange  customs  and 
ways  of  living,  and  to  some  extent  to  their  economic  condi- 
tion. At  the  same  time,  there  is  included  a  graphic  description 
of  the  curious  animals,  rare  birds,  wonderful  physical  features, 
natural  resources,  and  great  industries  of  each  country. 
^[  The  numerous  illustrations  and  maps  deserve  special  men- 
tion. The  illustrations  for  the  most  part  are  reproductions  of 
photographs  taken  by  the  author,  and  are  in  perfect  harmony 
with  the  text.  The  maps  showing  the  route  taken  over  each 
continent  are  one  of  the  best  features  of  the  series. 
^f  The  publication  of  this  series  has  been  .a  distinct  relief  to 
teachers.  No  longer  is  the  study  of  geography  dry  and  mean- 
ingless, no  longer  is  it  a  waste  of  time.  Since  the  appear- 
ance of  the  first  volume,  Carpenter's  Readers  have  met  with  an 
extraordinary  success  throughout  the  country. 


AMERICAN    BOOK     COMPANY 


ds) 


NEW  SERIES  OF  THE 
NATURAL     GEOGRAPHIES 

REDWAY  AND    HINMAN 


TWO  BOOK  OR  FOUR  BOOK  EDITION 

Introductory  Geography     .   $0.60          School  Geography  .      .      .    $1.25 
In  two  parts,  each     .      .      .40  In  two  parts,  each     .     .        .75 


IN  the  new  series  of  these  sterling  geographies  emphasis  is  laid 
on  industrial,  commercial,  and  political  geography,  with  just 
enough  physiography  to  bring  out  the  causal  relations. 
^[  The  text  is  clear,  simple,  interesting,  and  explicit.  The 
pictures  are  distinguished  for  their  aptness  and  perfect  illus- 
trative character.  Two  sets  of  maps  are  provided,  one  for 
reference,  and  the  other  for  study,  the  latter  having  corre- 
sponding maps  drawn  to  the  same  scale. 
«f[  The  INTRODUCTORY  GEOGRAPHY  develops  the 
subject  in  accordance  with  the  child's  comprehension,  each 
lesson  paving  the  way  for  the  next.  In  the  treatment  of  the 
United  States  the  physiographic,  historical,  political,  industrial, 
and  commercial  conditions  are  taken  up  in  their  respective 
order,  the  chief  industries  and  the  localities  devoted  largely  to 
each  receiving  more  than  usual  consideration.  The  country 
is  regarded  as  being  divided  into  five  industrial  sections. 
^j  In  the  SCHOOL  GEOGRAPHY  a  special  feature  is 
the  presentation  of  the  basal  principles  of  physical  and  general 
geography  in  simple,  untechnical  language,  arranged  in  num- 
bered paragraphs.  In  subsequent  pages  constant  reference  is 
made  to  these  principles,  but  in  each  case  accompanied  by 
the  paragraph  number.  This  greatly  simplifies  the  work, 
and  makes  it  possible  to  take  up  the  formal  study  of  these 
introductory  lessons  after  the  remainder  of  the  book  has  been 
completed.  With  a  view  to  enriching  the  course,  numerous 
specific  references  are  given  to  selected  geographical  reading. 


AMERICAN    BOOK     COMPANY 
c«o 


WEBSTER'S 
SCHOOL    DICTIONARIES 

Revised  Editions 


T 


HESE  Dictionaries  have  been  thoroughly  revised, 
entirely  reset,  and  made  to  conform  to  that  great  stand- 
ard authority — Webster's  International  Dictionary. 


WEBSTER'S  PRIMARY  SCHOOL  DICTION- 
ARY   $0.48 

Containing  over  20,000  words  and  meanings,  with  over 
400  illustrations. 

WEBSTER'S  COMMON  SCHOOL  DICTION- 
ARY   $0.72 

Containing  over  25,000  words  and  meanings,  with  over 
500  illustrations. 

WEBSTER'S  HIGH  SCHOOL  DICTIONARY,  $0.98 

Containing  about  37,000  words  and  definitions,  and  an 
appendix  giving  a  pronouncing  vocabulary  of  Biblical, 
Classical,  Mythological,  Historical,  and  Geographical  proper 
names,  with  over  800  illustrations. 

WEBSTER'S  ACADEMIC  DICTIONARY 

Cloth,  $1.50;  Indexed |i.8o 

Half  Calf,  $2.75  ;  Indexed 3.00 

Abridged  directly  from  the  International  Dictionary,  and 
giving  the  orthography,  pronunciations,  definitions,  and 
synonyms  of  about :%o$ooo  words  in  common  use,  with  an 

v>^        appendix  containing  various  useful  tables,  with  over    800 
illustrations. 


SPECIAL  EDITIONS 

Webster's  Countinghouse  Dictionary. 

Indexed $2-4° 


Sheep, 


Webster's  Handy  Dictionary 


5 


Webster's  Pocket  Dictionary 1.57 


The  same. 

.  The  same. 

The  same. 


Roan,  Flexible 


.69 


Roan,  Tucks '.78 


Morocco,  Indexed 


.90 


AMERICAN    BOOK     COMPANY 


STEPS   IN    ENGLISH 

By  A.  C.  McLEAN,  A.M.,  Principal  of  Luckey  School, 
Pittsburg;  THOMAS  C.  BLAISDELL,  A.M.,  Pro- 
fessor of  English,  Fifth  Avenue  Normal  High  School, 
Pittsburg;  and  JOHN  MORROW,  Superintendent  of 
Schools,  Allegheny,  Pa. 


Book  One.      For  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  years $0.40 

Book  Two.     For  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth  years 60 


THIS  series  presents  a  new  method  of  teaching  language 
which  is  in  marked  contrast  with  the  antiquated  systems 
in  vogue  a  generation  ago.      The  books  meet  modern 
conditions  in  every  respect,  and  teach  the  child  how  to  ex- 
press his  thoughts  in  language  rather  than  furnish  an  undue 
amount  of  grammar  and  rules. 

^[  From  the  start  the  attempt  has  been  made  to  base  the  work 
on  subjects  in  which  the  child  is  genuinely  interested.  Lessons 
in  writing  language  are  employed  simultaneously  with  those  in 
conversation,  while  picture-study,  the  study  of  literary  selec- 
tions, and  letter- writing  are  presented  at  frequent  intervals. 
The  lessons  are  of  a  proper  length,  well  arranged,  and  well 
graded.  The  books  mark  out  the  daily  work  for  the  teacher 
in  a  clearly  defined  manner  by  telling  him  what  to  do,  and 
when  to  do  it.  Many  unique  mechanical  devices,  e.  g. ,  a 
labor-saving  method  of  correcting  papers,  a  graphic  system  of 
diagramming,  etc.,  form  a  valuable  feature  of  the  work. 
^|  These  books  are  unlike  any  other  series  now  on  the 
market.  They  do  not  shoot  over  the  heads  of  the  pupils, 
nor  do  they  show  a  marked  effort  in  writing  down  to 
the  supposed  level  of  young  minds.  They  do  not  contain 
too  much  technical  grammar,  nor  are  they  filled  with  what 
is  sentimental  and  meaningless.  No  exaggerated  attention  is 
given  to  analyzing  by  diagramming,  and  to  exceptions  to  ordi- 
nary rules,  which  have  proved  so  unsatisfactory. 

AMERICAN     BOOK     COMPANY 

(80 


MILNE'S      PROGRESSIVE 
ARITHMETICS 

By  WILLIAM  J.  MILNE,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  President  of 
New  York  State  Normal  College,  Albany,  N.  Y. 


THREE  BOOK  SERIES     . 

First  Book $0.35 

Second  Book 40 

Third  Book 45 


TWO  BOOK  SERIES 

First  Book #o-35 

Complete  Book     .      .        .      .65 


IN  these  series  the  best  modern  methods  of  instruction  have 
been  combined  with  those  older  features  which  gave  the 
author's  previous  arithmetics  such  marvelous  popularity. 
^|  Built  upon  a  definite  pedagogical  plan,  these  books  teach 
the  processes  of  arithmetic  in  such  a  way  as  to  develop  the 
reasoning  faculties,  and  to  train  the  power  of  rapid,  accurate, 
and  skillful  manipulation  of  numbers.     The  inductive  method 
is  applied,  leading  the  pupils  to  discover  truths  for  them- 
selves ;  but  it  is  supplemented  by  model  solutions  and  careful 
explanations  of  each  step. 

^[  Each  new  topic  is  first  carefully  developed,  and  then  en- 
forced by  sufficient  practice  to  fix  it  thoroughly  in  the  mind. 
The  problems,  which  have  been  framed  with  the  greatest  care, 
relate  to  a  wide  range  of  subjects  drawn  from  modern  life  and 
industries.  Reviews  in  various  forms  are  a  marked  feature.' 
Usefulness  is  the  keynote. 

^[  In  the  First  and  Second  Books  the  amount  of  work  that 
may  be  accomplished  in  a  half  year  is  taken  as  the  unit  of 
classification,  and  the  various  subjects  are  treated  topically, 
each  being  preceded  by  a  brief  resume  of  the  concepts 
already  acquired.  In  the  Third  Book  the  purely  topical 
method  is  used  in  order  to  give  the  pupil  a  coherent 
knowledge  of  each  subject.  The  Complete  Book  covers 
the  work  usually  given  to  pupils  during  the  last  four  years 
of  school. 


AMERICAN     BOOK     COMPANY 

(57) 


6  V82- 

M®  27*90 


VB  08753 


370340 


, 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


